Mind Games
by GalaxyOwl13
Summary: What if Hermione was a half blood whose father hated muggles? Will she find her way to being the same Hermione who is a loyal friend and fights to the end or will she be turned by her upbringing? And how will this affect the fight against You-Know-Who? This follows Hermione as she struggles to find her way at Hogwarts. Rated T for violence later and possible death.
1. Ch1: Diagon Alley

Mind Games

Chapter 1

Hermione Jean Granger wasn't a normal girl. Normal girls didn't study advanced coursework five grades above their level when they got home from school. Normal girls didn't memorize their textbooks by heart. And normal girls didn't have a wizard for a father.

Hermione woke up early, as she had every morning since her eleventh birthday. She didn't want to miss the owl carrying her Hogwarts letter, confirming what she had known since she was five when her father had decided he could trust her with something that she had to keep a secret. Even from her mother. Forcing herself to look away from the window, Hermione reminded herself that she had to be perfectly patient at Hogwarts. Like her father said, all good things come to those who wait, and besides she would never gain respect if she seemed too exited or to care too much. It just wouldn't do. Shaking her head, Hermione walked downstairs.

After eating her breakfast, she began to do her hair. Even that would be tricky. As a half-blood she was already at a disadvantage. In order to do things, she had to be clever and gain respect instead of just relying on money or the power of her family's name. She couldn't seem like she cared too much, but she had to look as close to as that as possible.

"Hello, father." She said, walking into the kitchen.

"Hermione, do sit down." Hermione slid into the chair across from him, smiling.

"Around what time are we going to go to Diagon Alley?" She asked.

"I have scheduled an overnight camping trip this weekend. Your mother, of course, will believe anything I tell her as long as it gets you out of the house."

"Are you sure? She's smart. Don't you think she'll notice something's up. Because she hates me, she's more likely to be suspicious." Hermione reasoned.

"She's a muggle." He said shortly.

"Not all muggles are stupid. Some are smarter than wizards." Hermione insisted. "Emma's smarter than Mr. Goyle. So's Jason. And Kyle. And even Bethany. You married one."

"Never, never, say that at Hogwarts." Her father said in a grave voice. "Muggles are inferior to wizards. You're better than that. And I'm very disappointed in you."

"Yes, father." Hermione said, looking downwards. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid. Her father was right to be disappointed in her. She was better than that. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Hermione." He reached across the table to hold her hand, looking sad. "I only want the best for you. You just need to be careful. I want you to succeed, as you want for yourself."

"I understand." Hermione was glad her father was there for her, that he had taught her so much. "I'll be more careful in the future."

"When I married your mother, I was young and stupid. My family disowned me, and I didn't care. Only later did I realize my mistake and I've been dealing with the consequences ever since. I don't want that for you." Hermione nodded as her father continued. "You're a smart girl. You can make your way. Forge alliances. Develop connections. One day you could find yourself close to the top of the ministry." He smiled at her before getting up.

"What do I say if people ask about it at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Whatever you must. You can tell them that it was necessary, or that I made a mistake, just as long as it will help you. And whatever you choose, you must, must, be dismissive of your mother. Do you understand? She's just a muggle."

"She's just a muggle." Hermione echoed.

Hermione ran down the stairs, skipping every other step. "Father! You're home!" She said, smiling.

"What's all the excitement about?" He asked, although Hermione was certain he already knew.

"I got my letter!"

"Excellent. And your mother did not see?" He asked.

"Of course not. I went to get the post because she was still sleeping, and there it was! Seal and everything!" She was practically jumping up and down now.

"Well, it's just in time!" Her father said. "Our 'camping trip' is tomorrow."

Hermione couldn't sleep. When the clock read 3:00 a.m., she stopped trying and got dressed in the too-large set of robes that had been her father's. She would be wearing new ones to Hogwarts, of course, but seeing as she had none of her own and it would not do to be seen in Diagon Alley with muggle clothing, she had to wear these. It took forever to make sure that she didn't look silly in them, but eventually she managed it.

Her father took her on a train to London. As they traveled, he took out the magical textbooks that he kept hidden from Hermione's mother. Hermione rarely got the chance to look through them as she knew what would happen if her mother saw them. She would throw them out of the house, Hermione at least, and even if she didn't do that she would tell everyone who would listen. Then they would get in trouble for breaking the International Statute of Secrecy. Once, she had asked why they couldn't just tell their mother, why witches and wizards had to live in secret. "Muggles are hateful." Her father had responded.

"But wizards are hateful sometimes too." She had insisted.

"Wizards are outnumbered. If the muggles found out, it could be a disaster. Image thousands of mosquitos swarming around you. One you could crush, but that many? Not a chance. This needs to be kept a secret. Do you understand, Hermione?"

"Yes, father." She had said, but she still didn't think it was fair to say that muggles were like mosquitos. It just felt wrong.

"Tell me something about Wendelin the Weird." Her father questioned, pulling her out of her memories.

"Er – she lived during the time when they, muggles I mean, would burn witches. She liked the way flames felt with a flame-freezing charm so much that she was burned a bunch."

"Good." Her father said as the train rolled to a stop. "You'll do just fine at Hogwarts."

Hermione followed her father through the streets until she reached the Leaky Cauldron. "Why can't they see it?" Hermione asked, remarking on the way the muggles' eyes slid from one building to the next without ever stopping on the Leaky Cauldron.

"Their perception is limited. They couldn't see it even if they tried." Her father answered, smiling slightly. As they walked into the inn, Hermione stood up straight and tall. It was not only necessary because she needed to look confident; it was the only way she could avoid tripping over her robe.

Her father tapped on several bricks and an archway appeared. Behind it was a winding, busy street full of people moving about.

Hermione got her textbooks at Flourish and Blotts, and after looking through them she decided that she most looked forwards to Transfiguration, although potions was a close second. Her liking for potions, however, was immediately turned off when she entered the shop for potions materials. The smell alone was enough to make anyone want to throw up.

Before long, Hermione found herself at Ollivanders. "A respectable family." Her father commented. "And the best wand-maker in the country! Indeed, in my opinion he is the best wand-maker in the world!" She wondered why her father seemed to approve of him so much. "He was a Ravenclaw, you know. His son was in my year at school. A good ally."

Hermione entered the strange store filled with boxes of wands. Mr. Ollivander, who had been searching through his stack of wands muttering "curious", turned to face her. "Ms. Granger, and your father! It's good to see you!" Her father smiled slightly.

"Well, here to buy your wand? Excellent. Try this one." He took a light colored wand out. "Birchwood. Unicorn hair. 10 inches and springy.

Hermione waved the wand about and a few wands shot out of their places on the shelves like bullets. "Definitely not." Mr. Ollivander informed her. "Vinewood. Dragon heartstring. 8 and a half inches, and firm."

The second she began to wave it, Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand. "Much too short. Try this." It seemed that it was difficult to find a wand to match. At one point she tried a vinewood wand, which Mr. Ollivander stared at for a long time before shaking his head. During this time, Mr. Ollivander and Hermione's father had started up a conversation.

"You knew my son at Hogwarts." Mr. Ollivander remarked.

"Yes, we were good friends." Hermione's father said.

"Hmmm. I see." Whether this was towards her or her father, Hermione wasn't sure. "Ms. Granger, try this one. Willow, nice and springy, with a dragon heartstring core. Ten and three-quarters inches."

He passed it over to her delicately, seeming a bit tired. As soon as she touched her wand, Hermione knew this was the one. It just felt so right – not joyful, but right, as if it had been part of her from birth. It took a few seconds to realize she was hovering an inch off the ground.

"Excellent, excellent." Mr. Ollivander said, clapping his hands together. Hermione payed for her wand and walked out with her father.

"Got everything?" Hermione looked at her school list.

"Yes." She responded.

"All that's left is to get you a pet. Not having one would make it seem like you can't afford one, but you cannot have one that's harmful to your reputation." Her father told her as they walked to the pet shop, Magical Menagarie.

Inside, it was chaos. Owls hooted, cats meowed and hissed, toads leaped, rats performed tricks in little cages, colorful snails oozed about, and it smelled horrible. Hermione's eyes immediately fell on a scruffy orange kitten mewling in the corner. "Father, can I have that one?" She asked pleadingly.

"I wouldn't get that one if I were you." The witch at the counter said. "He's poorly behaved, and no one wants him."

"Please?" Hermione asked again.

"No. It would harm your reputation and besides, I don't have an owl so you should have one to contact me and such. Very useful." He insisted

"Father, there are school owls." She reasoned.

"You may have to contact me from somewhere else. And you're not getting that cat. Which owl do you want?" Eventually she found a tiny pygmy owl that could carry letters and not much more. Owls were expensive, but having an owl was incredibly useful and it showed that you could afford one.

She named her owl Archimedes, after the wizard scientist who had shared his discoveries with the muggles. Her little Archimedes was foolish but intelligent, so the name fit perfectly.

They stayed in the Leaky Cauldron overnight as they were supposed to be camping. As they took the train home, Hermione studied her textbooks, trying to take her mind off the way her mother would yell at her when she got home. Her mother hated her for her strange powers, and her father couldn't protect her all the time. _I'll be free of her in a few weeks_ , she told herself again and again, _I shouldn't be afraid of her. She's only a muggle._

 _She's only a muggle._


	2. Ch2: The Hogwarts Express

Chapter 2

 **Authors Note: Okay, I didn't do this in the first chapter because I was rushing, but: I do not own the characters, the locations, the plot points from the book etc. Those belong to JK Rowling. This is an AU, but I ran out of characters in the summary so I couldn't mention it. Please review!**

"It says Platform 9 ¾." Hermione said, confused. "I don't think there _is_ a Platform 9 ¾."

"It's between platforms nine and ten. You have to walk through the barrier." Her father said, looking around. Hermione followed his gaze and saw a skinny black-haired boy with glasses talking to a guard. He had an owl, but instead of only being able to afford a small one he had a magnificent snowy owl. A family of red-heads walked past with four boys pushing trunks. They had an owl too, an old gray one. In addition to the four that looked like Hogwarts students, there was a plump woman and a small girl without a trunk darting around.

"Ginny, stop getting in the way!" The smallest of the boys told her, annoyed.

"Fine, _Ronald_." She said as she stormed off and went off to hold hands with her mother.

Meanwhile, her mother was carrying out a conversation with the eldest who sported a Gryffindor Prefect Badge. "The station's packed with muggles, of course, I – "

"The Weasleys." Hermione's father informed her. "All of them blood traitors, so you'd best not associate with them. And their family tree – all red headed blood traitors – if much larger than they can afford. You see an annoying kid with red hair, chances are they're a Weasley."

"Aren't you one?" Hermione questioned. "I mean, a blood traitor, not a Weasley."

"I used to be, but I'm not now. Besides, most don't know about it. You don't want to go around telling people, Slytherins have a way of using secrets against you." He said, smiling. "Your job is to find out their secrets." He looked both ways. The Weasleys were almost done going through the barrier. In under a minute, her father said to her "all clear" and she ran towards the barrier at top speed….she readied herself for the impact…and none came.

She was looking at a large scarlet steam engine, from which smoke rose and drifted over the heads of the crowd. "There it is. Platform 9 ¾." Her father said, taking in the scene. "We don't have a lot of time, but here's what you've got to do: You can't get into Gryffindor, there's so many blood traitors there and the Slytherins, the ones with the real power, will hate you. Hufflepuff is a bunch of people so dull they have nowhere else to be. So that leaves Slytherin and Ravenclaw, Slytherin preferably." Hermione nodded. "Remember, the Sorting Hat will take into account your preferences. Just focus on your ambitions. And if that fails you, think about how disappointed I'll be if you're in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. I suppose Ravenclaw would be acceptable. We won't have to settle, though. I know I'm going to be so proud of you. Send me a letter as soon as you get sorted…into Slytherin," he winked and smiled. Hermione climbed onto the train and waved goodbye to her father. A whistle sounded.

The train began to move and Hermione focused in on her father. He stared right into her eyes, and she stared right back despite the speed of the vehicle. As the train passed out of the station, she thought she saw a tear.

After quickly changing into her robes, Hermione searched the train for a free compartment. All of them, however, seemed to be full or composed entirely of giggling girls who stared at her and giggled. She was unsure if they were laughing at her, or at something one of them had said, but either way she wasn't exactly welcome. One compartment had only a dark-haired boy sitting alone. Hermione felt bad for him but he was obviously unpopular that she could not afford to sit with him. Instead, she reached a compartment with two girls in it. One had short black hair and dark eyes and another was blonde with blue eyes. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked politely.

"Depends on who you are." The black-haired one asked.

"Hermione Granger. I'm a first year." Hermione wondered **why** the girl seemed so hostile.

"Blood status?" This was difficult. She was a half-blood, so the girl might think Hermione beneath her, but it would be worse if she caught her lying.

"Half-blood." Hermione said. "You?"

"We're both purebloods. I guess you can sit here if you don't get annoying. I'm Pansy Parkinson by the way and she's Daphne."

"Greengrass." Daphne said as if she wanted it to be known that that was her last name. "Daphne Greengrass." She held out her hand shyly. Hermione shook it.

"In case you didn't know, the Greengrass family is one of the most pure families." Pansy boasted for Daphne. "I suppose it is nice to have someone to talk to, even if you are a half-blood. No offense, Daphne, it's just that you don't really talk that much. Did you hear the Malfoy heir is at Hogwarts this year?"

"Is that good or bad?" Hermione asked.

"Neither, really." Pansy replied. "Just interesting. It will make everything more difficult. You don't want to make enemies with the Malfoy family. So what house are you hoping for? For me it's Slytherin, of course."

"Slytherin," Hermione said because that's what her father was in, "or Ravenclaw. It might not sort me into Slytherin because I'm a half-blood, but one can hope."

"Oh, you can still be in Slytherin." Pansy told her, "It's really only the muggle-borns that are the problem. You can never trust one, we've still got no idea where they get their magic. It's such a shame Hogwarts accepts them, but you know with Dumbledore, he would marry a muggle if he could." Pansy laughed and Hermione nodded. "So what about you Daphne?"

"Slytherin."

"Oh good, I hope you both get in so that we don't have to be enemies." Pansy said, only half-joking. "I do have something interesting to tell you though."

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you help me with something and I'll help you."

"What do I need to do?" Hermione asked. She was surprised that the making of alliances had already started.

"What can you do? I mean, it's not like the name Granger can help me at all, but I do have trouble with schoolwork. Father hired a tutor and he drones on about History of Magic all the time. I can never seem to get it."

"I can help you with your work." Hermione promised. "If you can help me. You seem well connected."

"We'll help each other." Daphne said. "The name Greengrass can be a huge help around here, and Granger seems to be smart." She motioned at the annotated textbooks lying in Hermione's bag labeled 'Light Reading'. "And Parkinson, you seem well informed." Having said her piece, Daphne went back to staring out the window. Hermione could tell when someone was thinking, and she knew Daphne was doing a lot of that. She made a mental note not to underestimate Daphne in the future. Or Pansy Parkinson, for that matter. There was a lot her father had not told her.

"Very well then. Harry Potter is at Hogwarts this year, and he's been living with _muggles_ the past ten years! This is _not_ good news, Hermione, because he's already made friends with that half-giant, half-wit Hagrid and is sitting with _Ronald Weasley._ Another one. I cannot believe that we are forced to go to school with blood traitors like those. At least muggle-borns don't have a choice." Pansy told them, disgusted.

"Well, we'll just have to see which house he gets sorted into. Hopefully Slytherin." Hermione said.

"I hope he's not in Gryffindor like his idiot father." Pansy said, taking out a book in which she started to write.

The trolley woman came by and they bought candy. Hermione thought the Cauldron Cakes were the best, but she did not understand the point in Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. After about an hour later, three boys, all of whom were wearing muggle clothing, came into their compartment. One of them was the youngest Weasley boy and one was the dark-haired one she had seen talking to the muggle guard. The third was the one she had seen sitting alone.

"Er – well, erm, have…" The red-headed one stuttered. Hermione inwardly rolled her eyes. _Weasley. Blood-traitor. Unable to speak. The list goes on._

"Er-have any of you seen a toad?" The skinnier of the two black-haired boys asked. "Neville's lost one."

"Neville as in Neville Longbottom?" Pansy asked, suddenly looking interested.

"Yep," Neville admitted miserably, "That's me." Hermione wondered why he seemed so upset. Maybe the Parkinsons didn't like the Longbottoms, or something like that.

"We haven't seen any toads." Hermione said quickly.

"And if we had, we wouldn't tell _you,_ Weasley." Pansy smirked. "Or maybe we would. Who brings a toad to Hogwarts anyway? I'd love to see you covered in slime."

"Toads aren't slimy," the redheaded boy said. "And who told you you could be so mean?" The question sat there in the silence.

"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said. Even talking to a Weasley was better than the awkward silence. "No need to ask who, or rather what, you are, though. My father told me the Weasleys are red headed, are blood traitors, and have more children than they can afford." Hermione said, making Pansy Parkinson smile at her. "But what I am wondering is why you, Harry Potter, are wasting your time with a Weasley."

"What I am wondering," the skinnier one said, "Is why are you two so mean?" Hermione felt a twinge and wondered if it was her conscience or just embarrassment at having alienated _the_ Harry Potter.

"I have a first name, you know. I'm Ron. No idea who the rest of you are, though."

 _Knowledge is power,_ thought Hermione to herself.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Potter said, "They aren't going to help us." The three boys left the compartment and Neville began calling "Trevor! Trevor, where are you?"

"Great. Now that we've made enemies with the Boy Who Lived, we've only got one option," Pansy said, looking at Hermione and Daphne, the later of whom was gazing thoughtfully out the window.

"Make friends with his enemies." Daphne finished, smiling.

"Oh, I do hope he's in Gryffindor." Pansy remarked with an evil grin.


	3. Ch3: The Sorting Hat

Chapter 3

 **Authors Note: I actually typed part of this wearing a Hermione costume! And again, Hermione and the other characters, magical creatures and places are all JK Rowling's. I don't make money off this, just happiness. Extra happiness if you review! I had to use some passages from the book, since I can't justify them changing.**

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said, smiling. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses." Hermione listened as she explained the importance of their houses, readying herself for whatever the sorting ceremony consisted of. "…suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She finished, looking around severely.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She ordered, leaving the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Potter asked.

"Sort of a test, I think. Fred says it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." The Weasley boy replied. Hermione swallowed. She barely knew any magic yet, so there was only one thing that she could do. Hermione started whispering all of the spells she knew under her breath. And then –

Someone screamed. Hermione gasped, for there were approximately twenty ghosts streaming through the back wall. They seemed to be arguing and none appeared to notice the first years. "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –" Insisted a fat little monk that reminded Hermione of Friar Tuck from the muggle story Robin Hood.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you doing here?" Asked a ghost wearing a ruff and tights, suddenly noticing them.

No one answered, so Hermione spoke up. "Sir, we're first year students waiting to be sorted. I was –"

"Ah, yes, first years. I remember my own sorting fondly. I do hope to see you in Hufflepuff."

"Move along now," said McGonagall, returning. The ghosts floated away through the opposite wall in single file. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start. Now form a line and follow me."

Nervously, Hermione followed her out of the chamber, across the hall, and through the two identical doors of the Great Hall.

Hermione had expected something wonderful, but she hadn't expected it would be this…amazing. Thousands upon thousands of candle floated over the four long tables where the older students from their respective houses were sitting. The sky was an accurate model of the night sky, filled with millions of glittering stars. The dark wood tables shone with gleaming golden plates and goblets which caught the light of the hovering candles that lit the room. At the top of the hall the faculty sat at another long table. Hermione noticed that it was considerably higher, steps leading up to the platform where it stood. She smiled to herself. The teachers felt a need to show that they were better, higher, than the students. That meant they had a weakness.

McGonagall led the first years up to the table so that they stood in a line facing the rest of the students. Looking out at the see of students dotted with silvery ghosts, Hermione recalled the passage she had read about it in _Hogwarts: A History_. Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years, and suddenly Hermione felt nervous again. _I can do this._ She reminded herself. The professor placed a frayed and pointed wizard's hat. It was gray and patched and incredibly dirty.

For a few seconds there was awkward silence, and then the hat twitched. A rip near its brim opened wide as the hat began to sing:

 _Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you're of ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

The entire room applauded as the hat finished its song. Hermione clapped too, her eyes searching the room. Several of the first years looked relieved and many were talking to each other expressing anger at how their older siblings had tricked them. None of them, not a single one, seemed in awe of what just happened. Someone – Hermione wasn't sure who – had put a spell on a hat to make it _sentient_. So that it could sing a song and sort kids into houses. Whoever did this made a person, and this creature was not sitting in a museum. It was not being studied. It wasn't even allowed to live a life. It sat around doing nothing all year except one day where it sang a short song and read the minds of eleven year olds. Hermione wondered how it had been created, and resolved to ask the Sorting Hat that.

 _No, you idiot!_ Hermione told herself. _That'll get you in Ravenclaw!_ But it was so hard. She wanted to know so badly how to do this. She could be famous if she did. _That's it! I'll think about how I want to know so I can be a famous witch and then it'll sort me into Slytherin!_ Hermione smiled.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." Professor McGonagall informed them. "Abott, Hannah!"

A small girl stumbled towards the stool and placed the hat on her head. It fell over her eyes, messing up her hair. After a few seconds it shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" The Hufflepuff table cheered as Hannah went over to their table, the Hufflepuff ghost waving cheerfully. Hermione thought that they seemed nice. Maybe she would make friends with one of them, like "Bones, Susan" who had just been called. _She must be related to Amelia Bones_ , Hermione realized. Surely her father would like her being friends with Susan.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" became the first Slytherin. She was a large, black-haired girl and Hermione thought that she had seen her with a cat.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" became a Hufflepuff, and Hermione realized that she must be soon. Trying to calm her nerves, she tried to take deep breaths. This moment would affect her entire life.

"Granger, Hermione." Hermione walked towards the stool, trying to stop herself from running. As she sat down and pulled the hat over her head, Hermione noticed Pansy and Daphne watching her. She tried to keep the hat from falling over her eyes, but when she felt it try to pull itself over her head Hermione realized that it must be necessary for its magic to function. As she let it fall over her eyes, Hermione made sure that she thought of how she wanted to become a famous witch one day.

"Hmmm." The hat whispered in her ear. "Trying to trick me, are you? Well, thank you, I would like something interesting to do, but I am fairly content to look at peoples' minds once a year. It is very interesting."

 _I'm not trying to trick you._ Hermione thought to the hat. _I belong in Slytherin. I've already made two allies. By the way, who made you sentient?_

"The Hogwarts founders, but that's not what we're talking about." It paused for a moment, clearly wanting to continue. "No use fighting the urge to talk, it's ever so rare that someone wants to talk to _me_. It was mainly Rowena who did it. And Hegla did practically nothing, sitting in the corner talking about how I should be given equal rights. Back to the point now."

 _I'm a Slytherin. Really. Please put me there._

"You don't know where you belong, that's my job. Your quest for knowledge makes you a great candidate for Ravenclaw. And you definitely are brave. I can see that you try to do what's right, when it doesn't go against your father. Gryffindor would help you to see that in yourself, to make choices based on your values. You are being controlled, Hermione. And it's not too late."

 _I suppose Ravenclaw would be acceptable,_ Hermione conceded. _But. Do. Not. Put. Me. In. Gryffindor._

"But it would help you grow."

 _No. Slytherin. Don't ruin my life._

"You said Ravenclaw would be acceptable. There would be others like you, seeking knowledge."

 _Please. Put me in Slytherin. Don't let me be a disappointment._

"Ah, there it is. You don't want to be in Slytherin, you want your father to be proud. And he says Slytherin is best so that's what you ask for."

 _You know I've got a lot of Slytherin. Just please let me go there._ Hermione paused, trying to hide her thoughts under layers of protection. _Where do you stay during the rest of the year, anyway?_

"The Headmaster's office. It's rather lonely, but Fawkes is a good friend. When he's not burning up or sitting on Dumbledore's shoulder. It is sad though that he's red and gold. It would be nice if he represented all of the houses."

 _Well, whatever you decide, I'll come to visit you sometime._ Hermione told the hat. Also, Dumbledore had a phoenix? He had a sentient hat and a phoenix?

"Oh, yes, that would be nice. I – wait a second, you're trying to manipulate me. And you had me liking you for a moment. I am an impartial judge! So where should I put you…"

 _Slytherin. Please put me there. I'm good enough. And isn't the fact that I got you liking me proof enough? I will still visit, though, if I can. I meant that._

"Well, I still think you should have been a Gryffindor, but if you're sure, then I'll put you in SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted the last word out to the entire hall, and Hermione stood up, feeling a bit frightened at the fact that she was almost sorted into Gryffindor. _Don't worry, I'll turn out alright Father._

She sat down at the Slytherin table next to Millicent. They were soon joined by Daphne, who smiled at her.

Hermione laughed along with Daphne as Neville fell over walking to the stool, was sorted into Gryffindor, and jogged off with the hat still on. It seemed that although he was a pureblood, he was someone that the Slytherins thought was an idiot. Personally, Hermione agreed.

"Malfoy, Draco." Hermione watched the reactions of the students closely as he walked towards the stool. The Weasley twins snorted and several of the Gryffindors were shooting him looks of disgust. Meanwhile, the Slytherins were all analyzing every little thing he did. Hermione guessed that the Malfoys were a very important family who believed in blood purity. The second it touched his head it screamed SLYTHERIN extra loudly, and Draco went to sit by two gigantic boys that seemed like his bodyguards.

After a few others were sorted, Professor McGonagall called "Potter, Harry." The boy stepped forwards as people whispered all over the hall to each other like a giant game of Telephone.

"Did she just say Harry Potter?"

" _The_ Harry Potter at Hogwarts."

"And he has that scar too!"

All the students sat on their legs to get a good look at Harry Potter. Most of the Slytherins didn't seem to like them. That was probably because he killed their parents' boss, but then again he was also rude and associating with a Weasley.

The Sorting hat spent about a minute before yelling out "GRYFFINDOR." That made things easier then. The Malfoy boy seemed to dislike Potter the most, so Daphne, Pansy and her would try to make an alliance with him and put Potter in his place. Simple enough, until you realized that three quarters of the students clapped very loudly for him. Well, they had no real power. The Slytherins controlled everything. Briefly, Hermione wondered if she should have let it put her in Gryffindor so that she could be in the same house as Potter, but she dismissed it quickly. She had asked it to put it in Slytherin. Hermione's father would be proud.

Dumbledore got to his feet after "Zabini, Blaise" became a Slytherin.

"Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" All of the Gryffindor's clapped and cheered. Hermione searched for some sign that they were kidding, but then she realized that they were actually impressed or something.

"Dumbledore's a crazy old wizard." Draco announced, reaching for the potatoes that had magically appeared on the dishes. "Father says that he's unfit to be headmaster, but the school board is too attached to him." Hermione, along with most of the table, nodded in agreement.

Once everyone was finished eating everything they could, the desserts appeared. Hermione felt stuffed, but nonetheless ate a small slice of apple pie. There wasn't much conversation during dinner at the Slytherin table, mainly because it was impolite to talk with your mouth full and Pansy said that the food disappeared when Dumbledore felt it should.

Finally, Dumbledore stood up again.

"Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Hermione noticed that he looked in the direction of the Weasley twins. One day they were going to get themselves killed. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that all magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quiddich trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch."

"I can fly a broomstick and everything." Draco bragged. "But stupid Dumbledore says first years can't play."

"And finally," Dumbledore announced, "I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

"Good, we'll be a few Gryffindors short after this year." A fifth year Slytherin told them. "I hope it gets the Weasleys.

The school then sang the very uncoordinated school song in several different tunes, finishing at entirely different times. Dumbledore seemed to love it. "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

As the Slytherin prefects began to lead their quarter of the school towards their common room, Hermione walked with Daphne and Pansy, trying to participate in their discussion with Malfoy. It was fairly easy: anything that insulted muggleborns or Gryffindors was found funny. When Draco, Daphne, Pansy, and Blaise laughed at one of her jokes, Hermione smiled to herself. This was going well.

 _I can do this._


	4. Ch4: Welcome to Slytherin

**Chapter 4**

 **Author's Note: I'm going to have to make up a few spells, but I'll try to look for any that might already exist to get correct. Also, this is my first fanfic so please review. But don't stop reading it if you already are, because I've written a lot of other things before. Anyway, I don't own the Harry Potter universe. At some point I'm going to go over the parts of the story I copied and underline them, but right now I really need to get the story out and the parts are a bit obvious that I copied them. There will be less and less as the story changes. Another thing: When I searched Pansy Parkinson, the first entry said her blood status was Pure-blood or Half-blood. If I click on it the site (Harry Potter Wiki) says that she's pureblood. I don't think it said either way in the books, so she's a half-blood in this story. There's also not much on Tracey Davis, so her personality in this might not be the same as in other fanfics. And it looks like I have to make up Slytherin prefects too – there's so little canon for Slytherins beyond Harry's year.**

Hermione was tired. And when she was tired, she tended to make really stupid mistakes. She really wanted to fall asleep, but that was only because she hadn't gotten any the previous night. And now she had to live with the consequences. She knew though that every other Slytherin was also fairly tired and she had an advantage. Normally, her muggle schoolwork (she had to go to public school to avoid suspicion) was way too easy, but on top of that her father had made her study magical schoolwork too. Hermione wasn't allowed to touch a wand before school, in case her mother noticed, but that didn't mean that there wasn't plenty of theory, history, laws, customs, and astronomy to learn about. Her father had also made her stay up late at night sometimes, whether it was for him to teach her a first-year astronomy lesson or just for training on how to act normal after getting barely any sleep the night before. Hogwarts curriculum, he said, was a lot more difficult than all the stupid stuff muggles taught.

Personally, Hermione thought that although muggles were stupid, she had learned a lot about math there as well as how to actually write a proper essay (although her father had taught her that too). Now all her lessons would matter so she needed to be able to still do well after staying up late. And this time she wouldn't have to get A-'s (EEs) just so that she would fit in. Gemma announced that the password was pureblood (Hermione knew at least two of the nine first year students were half-bloods, so she wondered who had chosen that), and they stepped into the common room.

It was apparently underwater, with strange, glowing fish visible through the gigantic windows. A lot of the furniture was either black or green, and there were silver curtains around some of the smaller windows. Lamps hung from silver chains, giving off a greenish glow. The fireplace was empty, but above it was an elaborate carving in silver featuring Merlin performing an ancient ritual of fire. Tapestries of Slytherin wizards filled the walls along with silver and green serpents. There were also several tables carved of a dark wood with chairs or couches seated around them. Hermione thought she could hear the faint sound of moving water around the room. This was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

"So, this is the Slytherin common room." Gemma Farley announced to the first years, smiling. "Me and the other prefects have some announcements to make to all the Slytherins, so everyone please listen up. Including you two over there!" The last comment was directed at Tracey Davis and a boy who had been having a long conversation the entire time about why the password was pureblood. Well, it wasn't really a conversation as Tracey was the only one talking.

"And I find it quite offensive that the password doesn't include a third of Slytherin. After all it's only the mug – mudbloods that you, I mean we, don't like." Tracey was telling him.

"Er…maybe you could talk a little slower, Davis? I honestly can't hear you." She was talking rather fast, not stopping to think about exactly what she was saying or that the entire Slytherin House was staring at her.

"I mean, purebloods are generally more powerful, but it's possible for a half-blood's magic to turn out right so they're just as powerful, your dad published a study on that, remember, and it's rare but it can and does happen if things work out just right, and…" She trailed off, realizing that everyone was watching her.

"Nott, Davis, please pay attention when one of us is talking. You don't want to miss any important details." The male sixth year prefect said.

"I wasn't talking, she was doing it." Nott protested.

"That leads me to the first rule. Slytherins stick together. We don't rat out each other. We don't take points from each other, or bully each other, or any of that. If you've got a problem with someone, solve it. Do not get any of the teachers involved except Professor Snape if it's really bad. Bring it to Snape if someone from another house is bothering you. Everyone except some of the Ravenclaw will, so the second rule is to _not get caught_. Professor Snape may be able to turn a blind eye sometimes, but if it's obvious he can't do much. If you're going to hex someone, be smart about it! Do. Not. Attack. Anyone. Where. The. Teachers. Can. See! Last year one of the Slytherins, Flint, hexed Wood where everyone could see. That is not what a good Slytherin does! Even if they deserve it, remember that revenge is best served cold. And still, don't go making enemies for no reason. But if they attack first then you can be certain nothing you do will change their mindset so you can go about planning a way to get your revenge. But don't act like an idiot!" The seventh year prefect told them, finally finishing only because he was out of breath.

"To answer your question, Tracey, the student who earns Slytherin the most points each week gets to change the password, not counting Professor Snape's points or those from Slytherin prefects. Any points you lose count against the points you gain. No curse words, and no insults to any particular student." Gemma told the first years. The older years had spread out and were sitting down.

"So…let's get back to the usual orientation." The female sixth year prefect said before the seventh year prefect started ranting again about how Slytherins were supposed to be cunning.

"I'm Gemma Farley, one of the seventh year prefects. This is Terence Higgs, the other seventh year prefect. We know the most about Hogwarts, and we can help you if you need access to the Restricted Section for purposes that aren't dangerous. Near the end of the year, we're taking our N.E.W.T.s, so don't annoy us when we're studying. For now, though, we can help you with your schoolwork. I'm taking Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic, and Ancient Runes. Terence's taking Charms, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies. You can ask us for help on those subjects. That's David Nott, the sixth year male prefect, and Tara Goyle. They're the ones you can ask for help on pretty much everything except neither of them takes muggle studies or divination. As they don't have any tests to study for, you can come to them with any problems that need to be solved by an authority figure. Plus, David is a beater so he can scare away any Gryffindors who are giving you trouble. And the fifth year prefects are Janet Miller and Andrew Bulstrode." Gemma gestured to each one as she mentioned them.

She had long, straight light brown hair and green eyes. Terence Higgs also had light brown hair and green eyes, and Hermione had heard from Pansy that he was a decent seeker but refused to cheat against even the Gryffindors. Flint would have him off the team as soon as he found a replacement close enough in skill. Nott had dark brown hair and brown eyes with broad shoulders and a face that looked like it had been hit at least once with a bludger. Tara had black hair with a green streak and grey eyes. She was rather tall for a girl. Janet Miller was short and had light brown hair with a tint of orange. Her blue eyes clashed horribly with it and her face was covered in freckles. Miller glared around the room, and Hermione noted that a lot of it was directed at Andrew Bulstrode and a fourth year girl with short black hair. Bulstrode had black hair and was rather large, just like his sister Millicent.

"You'll soon find that the other Houses are a joke. We're only a quarter of Hogwarts, but we hold all the real power. Remember, there's not much of a point in making friends outside this house, they're only going to betray you. Except perhaps in Ravenclaw, everyone thinks we're evil. We're not. Professer Snape is biased towards us. Is that unfair? Maybe, but we can make use of it. But remember, while it may help us achieve some of our goals, we can't rely on that. When we graduate we'll have to pass other tests where the grades aren't controlled by our head of house." Tara said, looking pointedly at David Nott and a few others who looked like they couldn't tell right from left including Gregory Goyle. Hermione suddenly recognized her as Gregory's older sister, but she hadn't seen much of her as Tara had been at Hogwarts during two out of her three visits.

"About that," Terence continued, "we normally make our decisions based on our long term goals, so before we make choices we need to fully consider the potential consequences. You may want to be a famous potions master, the Minister of Magic, a professional Quidditch player, or a curse-breaker, and you should act accordingly. No one wants to find out in their fifth year that they can't become a potions master, for example, because they didn't apply themselves enough before. For now I suggest leaving options open. Still, we don't need to overwork ourselves. The Ravenclaws obsess over every little test grade. They take twelve N.E.W.T.s for no reason other than the knowledge. It may help you become Minister of Magic, yes, but why must the potions master know astronomy? Just pass your O.W.L.s then drop the subject. And no, you don't need to get an O if it doesn't appear on you job application. Healers don't ask for your astronomy scores, so just get an A or a E and be happy you have another one to add to your total number of passed O.W.L.s. I remember when I was a first year I obsessed over everything. Don't. I'll put in to transfer you to Ravenclaw. For your own good of course." He smiled. "But even that's better than not caring at all and failing something. Because then I'll put in to transfer you to Hufflepuff. No wait – Gryffindor. I expect you to pass your classes, and get at least six O.W.L.s. And yes, I got more than that but I dropped some of them."

"Divination's a total joke." Janet added.

"No it's not." The fourth year girl she had been glaring at protested. Hermione wondered why she was so easily provoked by that.

As if on cue, David said "Now, the fourth rule of Slytherin is to keep your cool. No matter how much an insult hurts. Think of how you'll get them back later if it helps. But we're not bloody Gryffindors!"

"What are the other rules of Slytherin?" Tracey asked.

"Well, there aren't actually rules like that." Janet said condescendingly. "Who'd bother to write down the obvious?"

"Actually, I wrote them down." A second year girl said. She had long, wavy black hair and blue eyes, and she was wearing a pencil tucked behind her ear even though Hermione thought they didn't use them at Hogwarts. "You know, from last year when Ida asked?"

"Okay, sure Kate." David said, not resisting his urge to roll his eyes very well.

"Well, I'll quote David because he answered. So the first was 'Slytherins stick together. Rule number two is um, we keep each other's secrets. Rule three is plan ahead, and er…well, rule five is don't get caught I guess. And rule six is that, hmmm, WE'RE NOT BLOODY GRYFFINDORS!' You seem to say that a lot David. Anyway, then you said 'Rule seven is don't be an idiot.' At this point you stopped, so I asked the obvious question of 'What about rule four?' I'm sure you meant to answer it, but at that point Janet interrupted and said 'Rule four is that little firsties shouldn't ask stupid questions'." She did this all without looking at any notebook, just staring straight ahead.

"I didn't skip rule four." David told her.

"Yes you did!" A second year with wavy blond hair and gray eyes piped up.

"We're going to move on." Gemma said. "You can take a seat Kate." Kate sat down on a chair, and Hermione resolved to talk to her the first chance she got where no one else would see her talking with what they probably considered the "know-it-all".

"So it's rather late now." Andrew said, reading off a sheet of parchment. "But we have a few more announcements to make. There's chess club on Saturdays, which I suggest those who play join. The Quidditch tryouts are three weeks from now, second years and up only. Flying lessons start soon for first years, check the notice board for that. And each Saturday right before lunch we have a House meeting, so don't miss it. That's all it says here."

"Classes begin Monday, so I suggest you get a good night's sleep. I also suggest that first years introduce themselves to the other first years tomorrow at breakfast. I think that's all for tonight." Terence told them.

"And one more thing." Gemma said as the students turned to go towards their dorm rooms. "Welcome to Slytherin."


	5. Ch5: The First Day

**Chapter 5**

 **Author's Note: I don't own the Harry Potter universe or any part of it.**

 **This is the longest chapter I've written at over 5, 000 words. Since** _ **biggestfangirlever**_ **asked, I have not seen the latest Harry Potter universe movie but I am planning to see it soon.**

 **Please review!**

* * *

 _Dear Father,_

 _I was sorted into Slytherin of course, but it did take some convincing. It was a very interesting conversation, but I'm glad I ended up here._

 _The common room is so beautiful, and there are these strange glowing fish swimming around outside. I've already made two friends here: Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. I can remember the names of all the prefects and even know about two of the second years._

 _There's also two other first year Slytherin girls by the names of Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis. Can you find out some stuff about their families and such?_

 _The Boy Who Lived and a Malfoy are in my year too, but Potter immediately began to associate with a Weasley._

 _Right now everyone's really tired, so I'll owl you more in the morning when Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle aren't already asleep._

 _Hermione,_

 _Love From_

Hermione smiled as she signed the letter. In the muggle world, there was a lot of alphabetical sorting. But it was weird because when one was searching for, say, The Revolution, you would find it under R as Revolution, the. So it became a joke, their joke, that when sending letters they would address it as their name then "love from". It made Hermione feel like she was sorting herself within the well-ordered reality. And now she was sorting herself into the magical world.

After handing it to Archimedes to send to her father, she changed into her Slytherin green pyjamas in the bathroom and went to bed, exhausted from the long day.

* * *

Hermione and the rest of the first year Slytherin girls were woken up at 7:45 by an alarm on Millicent Bulstrode's watch, which Hermione assumed was magical. "I can turn it off if you want." Millicent told the others as they got out of bed, yawning. Breakfast started at 8:15 and classes began at nine. They all agreed that it was helpful to have an alarm for when they should wake up, so Millicent left it on.

Gemma and Terence led the first years down to the Great Hall for breakfast and sat down at the Slytherin table. There was a lot of space on the end, so the first years all sat down there together. Hermione took one of the end spots and Gregory Goyle took the other. Draco sat to Goyle's left and another large boy sat to Draco's left. Daphne sat next to Hermione, with Pansy next to her. Tracey sat right between Pansy and Nott, and Millicent sat across from Nott. Zabini sat next to her.

"Erm, Gemma recommended we introduce ourselves." Tracey said as the Slytherins began to put breakfast foods on their plates, breaking the silence. Hermione felt like she was back in elementary school when they began to go around in a circle, saying their names.

"I'm Draco Malfoy." Draco said proudly. "My father wanted to send me to Durmstrang, but mother preferred for me to be closer to home. I would be seeker," he bragged, glaring at Terence, "but first years aren't allowed broomsticks. It's stupid too; I can fly way better than a _Weasley_."

"Crabbe." The boy to his left grunted, before turning back to his oatmeal.

"That's Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Their father works with my father." Draco clarified.

"I'm Millicent Bulstrode, but my friends can call me Millie. And I've got a cat named Demon because he scratches everyone he doesn't like. It's the only name it answers to." Millicent told them.

"My name's Blaise Zabini. Mother raised me, her husbands are always dying. But we're quite rich." Zabini said.

"The reason his mother's husbands keep dying mysteriously is because she kills them." Pansy whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Hey! I heard that!" Blaise told her.

"Settle down." Professor Snape ordered as he walked over to their table carrying a stack of papers. "These are your schedules. You are expected to attend all of your classes on time and do your best to complete the necessary work." He began to hand out the schedules. Hermione took hers eagerly.

"All the Slytherins have classes together." Daphne told Hermione as she read her schedule.

Hermione memorized it quickly so that she wouldn't have to look at it while getting to her classes. She had:

Monday

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 _Breakfast_

9:00 – 10:25 _History of Magic with Hufflepuff_

10:35 – 12:00 _Transfiguration with Hufflepuff_

12:00 – 1:00 _Lunch_

1:00 – 2:25 _Free Period_

2:35 – 4:00 _Theory of Magic_

4:10 – 5:35 _Free Period_

5:45 – 6:30 _DADA with Ravenclaw_

6:45 – 7:55 _Dinner_

8:15 _Curfew_

Midnight – 2:00 a. m. _N/A_

Tuesday

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 _Breakfast_

9:00 – 10:25 _Charms with Hufflepuff_

10:35 – 12:00 _Free Period_

12:00 – 1:00 _Lunch_

1:00 – 2:25 _Music or Free Period_

2:35 – 4:00 _Herbology with Ravenclaw_

4:10 – 5:35 _Free Period_

5:45 – 6:30 _Free Period_

6:45 – 7:55 _Dinner_

8:15 _Curfew_

Midnight – 2:00 a. m. _N/A_

Wednesday

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 _Breakfast_

9:00 – 10:25 _History of Magic with Hufflepuff_

10:35 – 12:00 _Charms with Hufflepuff_

12:00 – 1:00 _Lunch_

1:00 – 2:25 _Theory of Magic_

2:35 – 4:00 _DADA with Ravenclaw_

4:10 – 5:35 _Free Period_

5:45 – 6:30 _Free Period_

6:45 – 7:55 _Dinner_

8:15 _Curfew_

Midnight – 2:00 a. m. _Astronomy with Gryffindor_

Thursday

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 _Breakfast_

9:00 – 10:25 _Free Period_

10:35 – 12:00 _Herbology with Ravenclaw_

12:00 – 1:00 _Lunch_

1:00 – 2:25 _Transfiguration with Hufflepuff_

2:35 – 4:00 _Free Period_

4:10 – 5:35 _Flying Lessons with Gryffindor (Starts Second Week)_

5:45 – 6:30 _Free Period_

6:45 – 7:55 _Dinner_

8:15 _Curfew_

Midnight – 2:00 a. m. _N/A_

Friday

8:15 a.m. – 9:00 _Breakfast_

9:00 – 10:25 _Potions with Slytherin_

10:35 – 12:00 _Potions with Slytherin_

12:00 – 1:00 _Lunch_

1:00 – 2:25 _Free Period_

2:35 – 4:00 _Free Period_

4:10 – 5:35 _Free Period_

5:45 – 6:30 _Free Period_

6:45 – 7:55 _Dinner_

9:30 _Curfew_

Midnight – 2:00 a. m. _N/A_

Saturday No Classes

Sunday No Classes

"There's a lot of free periods." Hermione remarked to Pansy when she was done reading.

"There's a lot of homework, so we lose most of that time working." Pansy replied. "Believe me, it's a lot more work than most of us do at home." Hermione shrugged. She was fast at homework, so it looked like she'd have a lot of free time.

"Sorry, but I really don't know the rest of your names." Tracey said. Hermione remembered that she was the one who had wanted them to introduce themselves.

"Okay, fine." Pansy said. "I'm Pansy Parkinson, my mother's a healer at St. Mungo's."

"Blood status?" Millicent asked.

"Erm, half-blood, but like Tracey said we can be just as strong." Pansy replied.

"I guess, but it's unlikely. Anyway, at least we've got no mudbloods this year. And if the hat put you in Slytherin you're one of us." Millicent said, looking at Daphne and Draco for confirmation.

"We're all Slytherins, and Slytherins stick together. Unless they're mudbloods of course. But you're not one, so you didn't steal any magic and you must be strong enough if the hat put you in Slytherin." Draco said. "Father said that's why people like Evan Steelson are as strong as us purebloods. But the more pure the family the higher the probability of great magical strength." Draco was always talking about what his father said.

"Okay, Daphne you're next." Draco said.

"I'm Daphne Greengrass." She said quickly, not wanting everyone staring at her.

"The Greengrass family is the purest family in Britain." Zabini told Tracey.

"Oh…that's nice, I guess?" Tracey said, unsure of what to respond.

"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione told them when they turned to look at her.

"Granger? My father said that your father was a talented wizard – and that he ruined it all for himself by marrying a muggle." Draco said.

"He made a mistake." Hermione responded. "He regrets it now and even applied to the ministry for a divorce but they said it would be too suspicious. I'm not going to make a mistake like him." She was already feeling a bit annoyed by Draco. Everything that came out of his mouth was "my father said this", or "my father told me that".

That was when the owls came in, swooping through the Great Hall and dropping letters and packages down to where the students sat. There were so many that it was a wonder they didn't crash. Archimedes dropped a letter from her father right beside her plate. She opened it and patted Archimedes on the head, which he seemed to like. It read:

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _Great job on convincing the Sorting Hat, it just shows that you're a true Slytherin! I'm glad that you've already made friends in your year, but you'll need to be careful because a lot of the students this year have powerful families._

 _Greengrass is the purest family in Britain and very well respected. Daphne has a younger sister, Astoria, but no older siblings. This means that she is the Greengrass heir. Parkinson is a half-blood, but her father is very rich. She goes by that name because it's a wizarding name, not her father's last name._

 _The Bulstrodes seem to be an ordinary wizarding family – her mother is a Quidditch player and her father writes for the Daily Prophet. The Davis family has barely any money and is not well known at all._

 _I do hope that you'll tell me all about your classes. Remember to write at least twice a week._

 _Father, Your_

"Wow, Hermione, you're owl's hyper." Daphne said as Archimedes hopped up and down.

"You can go back to the owlery now." Hermione told the tiny owl. It flapped its wings and flew away.

"We'd better get going to History of Magic." Blaise told them, standing up. The Slytherins all walked together as the students began to leave the Great Hall.

When they arrived at History of Magic, they found no one in the classroom. Daphne, Pansy, and Hermione sat together, with Tracy taking a seat next to Hermione. The others all sat by them, with Draco next to his two bodyguards (Hermione was pretty sure that was basically what Crabbe and Goyle were).

A few minutes later, the Hufflepuffs entered cheerfully and sat down facing the chalkboard. Another minute and a ghost entered through the blackboard, causing Leanne, a Hufflepuff, to shriek with surprise. The ghost didn't seem to notice.

"Good morning class, I am Professor Binns. This is History of Magic, if you're not supposed to be here please remove yourselves. Thank you. We shall now begin learning about wizards and witches in the medieval times." He said tonelessly. "Starting with the beginning of the rule of King Jeffery the First over magical Britain in 1252, wizards began to use their magic in ways such that muggles began to see magic as harmful. In 1254, Sir Harold was burned at the stake for 'hosting the devil'. He…" It could have been an interesting lesson, but Binns didn't ask any questions and just kept talking in that toneless voice that made everyone fall asleep. Hermione forced herself to pay attention though, at least enough to take notes that she could look over later. By the time he reached "…in 1421. Now back in 1243, muggles had begun to become more suspicious of wizards", half the class had already fallen asleep. The strangest thing was that Professor Binns didn't seem to notice.

But when Professor Binns messed up arithmetic, Hermione really started to worry. "In the year 1263, King James inherited the magical throne." He was saying. "Now ten years after 1283, in the year 1258, the muggle king became aware that there was a whole separate government."

Her teacher had messed up arithmetic. He had just said 1,263 + 10 = 1258. And Hermione was sure that she had heard correctly, but the rest of the class didn't notice. All of the Hufflepuff first years were napping except Ernest Macmillan who was reading. Daphne was doodling, half asleep. The rest of Slytherin was asleep too, even Draco. Hermione resisted the urge to laugh at the sight. A ghost who couldn't do elementary school math didn't notice that no one in his class was paying attention except Hermione. Almost everyone was asleep except one Hufflepuff and a doodling Slytherin, including a Malfoy, his bodyguards, and even Tracey who never stopped talking. She really should just quit right now. Barely anyone even got the textbook for History of Magic, so most people would fail or get an Acceptable. But that meant that her notes would be extra useful so she payed attention until the bell rung, waking the other students.

"Crabbe was drooling." Pansy whispered to Hermione as they left the class with the assignment to write thirteen inches on the failings of King James IV, King James V, and King Jeffery. It would be easy; Hermione had it all in her notes.

"He can't even do simple math!" Hermione complained to the other Slytherins as they walked to Transfiguration. "He said that ten years after 1263, the muggle king noticed a whole separate magical government in 1258!"

"You were awake?" Zabini asked, impressed.

"Yes, I made myself pay attention." Hermione answered, nodding.

"Of course you weren't. Everyone was asleep. Even I was." Draco stated.

"Yes I was, I've even got the notes." She took out the parchment that she had been writing on.

Daphne looked at it for a few moments before saying. "I remember hearing that in the beginning, and there certainly is a lot about the homework topic."

"This place is going to the dogs." Draco said. "Professor Binns shouldn't be allowed to teach." Hermione couldn't help but agree on the second point.

"How'd you stay awake?" Tracey asked Hermione, impressed.

"I don't really know." Hermione answered, walking into the Transfiguration classroom. Hogwarts was difficult to navigate, but the Slytherins traveled together so between them at least one person knew where to go.

The moment the Hufflepuffs entered the classroom, Professor McGonagall began to lecture them. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone playing around here will leave and not return. You have all been warned." She waved her wand and the desk became a pig and then a desk again. Several of the Hufflepuffs began to clap.

It turned out that it would be quite a while before they would learn to do that, though. They spent an hour taking complicated notes until finally she came around and handed everyone a match. Hermione had been greatly looking forwards to this class, so she was pleased to learn that Professor McGonagall was fair and not biased against Slytherins.

"Okay, you can do this." Hermione told herself quietly. Draco had been bragging about how sure he was that he would get it on his first try. She waved her wand over the match, picturing the needle in her head like Professor McGonagall had told them. Gradually, it was becoming more silvery and pointy, but she realized that it wouldn't be done by the end of class. It was already better than Daphne's and Pansy's, so she decided to try something new. Her father had told her that magic was largely intent based: if you wanted a needle you had to picture one. But what she wanted wasn't just a needle on her desk, she wanted her match to slowly morph into a needle. Picturing it becoming pointier, Hermione waved her wand in the set pattern repeatedly until it worked. Next was the hole, so she imagined warping the wood to reveal a doorway for the thread. Then she had to work on the actual material.

 _It must be a common mistake for wizards to want the match to become all silvery._ Hermione thought, focusing on how she wanted the wood to become metal. She didn't just want it to look like metal, she wanted it to sound like metal hitting the floor, to stay strong under a foot trying to crush it, to not burn like wood and only melt under extreme heat like metal. Then she waved her wand over it, thinking those thoughts until Professor McGonagall announced that the class was almost over. She walked around the room collecting the matches. The only Hufflepuff who had made any difference was Macmillan, whose match had become pointy at one end and larger at the other. Daphne's was closer, with her needle being pointy with a hole at the other end. Draco's still felt like wood but was a silvery color with a point at one end and a hole in the other. Then McGonagall came over to her desk and looked at it before picking it up and smiling.

"Miss Granger, do you mind if I drop this?" She asked.

"Sure." Hermione responded. Professor McGonagall dropped the match and it fell to the ground with a _clink!_ , just like a real needle.

"Two points to Slytherin." She said, impressed, before turning it back into a match and placing it in the box.

As the Slytherins left Transfiguration, Daphne congratulated Hermione on performing the transfiguration perfectly.

"Thanks. Do you by any chance know where the library is?" Hermione asked, sitting down at the Slytherin table.

"I can show you after lunch." Blaise offered.

"Thank you." Hermione said.

"I need to go too." Pansy stated. "The Transfiguration essay's going to be hard, so I better get started on the History of Magic." She hadn't been able to make any change in her match, so writing about how to do the spell would be difficult.

"I can help you if you want." Hermione said. "Not that you can't do it on your own."

"Thanks." Pansy responded. "Maybe we could do a study group kind of thing."

"That's a good idea." Hermione said. "We can invite Daphne too."

"Daphne! Do you want to make a study group with Hermione?"

"Sure!"

Hermione ate quickly, and headed to the library along with Pansy, Blaise, Daphne, with Tracey trailing along. Once they got there, Hermione sped through the History of Magic essay with the others. Professor Binns probably wouldn't read them anyway, so it didn't have to be O-worthy.

Searching the library was a nightmare. Some things were categorized in completely nonsensical ways while others moved around depending on what the librarian, Madam Pince, felt like that day. Eventually Hermione gave up and asked the librarian where she could find a book of the school rules.

"Over there." She said. "And be quiet."

Hermione took the book, which looked like it had never been touched by a student and walked up to Madam Pince. "Excuse me, may I take this out?"

"Might as well keep it." The librarian said. "No one reads it. Just return it sometime by the end of the year." Hermione smiled and took the book to her bag before returning to the common room with the others to get her theory of magic and DADA books.

Theory of Magic was taught by Professor Sinistra who's other classes were only at midnight. No one knew quite how she managed to teach 14 classes in 7 days, all of them at midnight, but no one much wanted to ask because she never answered. That day they just learned that magic reflected intent, so Hermione didn't learn much.

Next was a free period, during which Hermione consulted the book of rules and wrote down those which interested her. At the end of it, the first year Slytherins headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The teacher, Professor Quirrell, turned out to be a joke. Everything smelled like garlic, which Tracey was convinced was to ward off vampires. He claimed that his turban was a gift from a prince, but no one believed that after he changed the topic as soon as an eager Terry Boot asked just _how_ he had managed to rid the village of a zombie. He read passages from their textbooks and refused to let them try any magic in there because "m…magical ac…acidents a-are v…v….very t-t-terrifying."

When DADA was finally over, the Slytherins went to dinner. A conversation started about their life at home as the first years ate. "My father gives me everything I ask for – he can afford it unlike some. And we've got a house elf to do our work." Draco bragged to them.

"Well I have to do a lot of chores, but we do see Quidditch games all the time." Theo responded.

"Our house is really big, and we also have a house elf." Daphne said. "Her name is Hoppy, and she's kind of cute with those big eyes. Me and Astoria, she's my sister, play gobstones a lot. I don't really like Quidditch. What about you, Hermione?"

"Well, sometimes my father brings me to visit other wizarding families." She said.

"What about your mother?" Tracey asked, forgetting Hermione was a half-blood.

"Erm…She's a muggle and she really hates me. Whenever my magic does weird things she gets upset and starts screaming at me." Hermione said.

"You let a muggle scream at you?" Draco asked.

"There's not much of a choice. Using magic would break the law, so there's nothing I can do. I hate living with her."

"I'm sorry you have to live with a muggle." Blaise said. "At least you don't at Hogwarts."

"That's one of the great things about going to magic school." Hermione said.

Draco started to say something, but Tracey interrupted him. "What's a house-elf?" She asked.

"House-elves were bred to serve wizards." Theo answered. "They do the chores and stuff."

"But that's slavery!" Tracey protested.

"They like it though. If you tell a house-elf you'll free them they have a panic attack and beg you not to."

"Oh…well, I guess it's okay if they like to work." Tracey conceded.

After dinner, Hermione did her Transfiguration essay, searched for more of the rules that she wanted to know about, and wrote a letter to her father:

 _Dear Father,_

 _Hogwarts is going well. All the other first year Slytherins are nice except Millicent (except I think she really is nice and is just acting tough) although Gregory and Vincent rarely talk. They're Draco Malfoy's bodyguards, and he's always ordering them around. He seems to dislike Harry Potter, who's still hanging around Ronald Weasley._

 _Today in Transfiguration we had to transfigure a match into a needle and I did it perfectly. Even Draco didn't do it, and the other Slytherins seemed impressed. History of Magic is horrible, everyone was falling asleep, and the other first year Slytherins considered it impressive that I was able to take notes! He confused addition with subtraction and probably thinks it's 1963 or something._

 _Professor Quirrell, he's our DADA teacher, obviously does not know what he's doing. He reminds me of – well, a squirrel. But no one makes it through the year so it won't be too long._

 _I'll be sure to write._

 _Hermione,_

 _Love From_

When she was done she changed into her pyjamas and went into the girls' dormitory to read. Daphne, Millicent, and Pansy were already there and Tracey entered after a few minutes.

"I heard that Harry Potter refused to shake Draco Malfoy's hand." Pansy said, writing on a piece of parchment.

"How rude." Tracey responded sarcastically. "So what's the big deal?"

"Well," Daphne said. "You know how you shake someone's hand when making a deal?" Tracey nodded. "You also shake someone's hand when you first meet them, especially if you're negotiating something. Refusing a handshake means that you're unwilling to deal with them and you won't show them respect."

"So Potter refusing to shake Draco's hand means that he doesn't respect him?" Tracey asked.

"Exactly." Pansy answered, rolling up the parchment and giving it to an owl waiting at the window. "That's not the only problem. It's incredibly rude to refuse to shake someone's hand, especially to a Malfoy. This practically means war.

"I don't think Draco Malfoy liked Potter in the first place." Millicent said.

"But he was willing to deal with him. And now, he's not." Daphne responded.

"And now our year's divided into two factions, which will never be friends and will shape our whole lives." Hermione said sarcastically.

"Yep, that's how it happens." Pansy responded, surprising Hermione.

"It's that bad, huh?"

"Yes, and you're right, everyone will have to choose sides. At least we will." Daphne said. _Just like in a story book,_ Hermione thought.

"And I, for one, know I'm going to side with Draco." Pansy said. "It's what everyone expects of us Slytherins anyway. For example, by lunch tomorrow, everyone will know that Potter attempted to hex Draco."

"He did?" Tracey asked, her eyes wide. Hermione decided that she needed to get an IQ test for Tracey.

"Of course he didn't." Pansy responded. "He can't even light up his wand let alone fire a curse. You see, while Daphne's parents taught her to act like a perfect little lady and Millie's parents taught her to seem dangerous, _my_ parents taught me to take advantage of the fact that the average Hogwarts student is a gullible moron."

"So you need our help." Hermione said.

"What?" Pansy asked innocently.

"You're planning to spread rumors about Potter around the school. You need our help for that, to get them securely into the system. You're relying on _us_ to think that we should prove that we can influence everyone too. At least one of us probably would, too. And when someone tries to figure out who started the rumor, probably Draco, the trail will lead to us. Caught telling lies, we would, like most Slytherins, blame you as we can honestly state that Pansy Parkinson said Potter attempted to harm Draco. But as you said, most Hogwarts students believe anything, so this would help to strengthen Draco's reputation. If he ever fires a hex at Malfoy, they'll be more likely to believe that it was in self-defense. Draco's not stupid, he'll know this. Therefore, he'll be grateful to you for doing this and be more likely to ally himself with you." Hermione rattled off at top speed, saying her thoughts as soon as they came to her. "You did make one mistake, though."

"And what makes you think that?" Pansy asked.

"Knowing his current reputation among most students, mostly because of his father, those idiot Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs will think that this is his attempt to turn them against Potter, therefore convincing them to hate Draco. There's no way they would ever be on Draco's side. And the Ravenclaws, who think themselves clever, will think that they have uncovered the truth: it was Draco that fire the hex and not Potter. Therefore, these rumors would only strengthen the barrier that stops other houses from ever taking Draco's side. He may think your way at first, but he'll soon realize: these rumors have not helped him one bit. You've miscalculated." Hermione answered. Pansy looked impressed.

"Can you explain that a little simpler, please?" Millicent asked. "And slower?"

"Pansy was going to spread rumors that would lead back to her. She believed that they would help Draco, so therefore he would be grateful to her. However, they are more likely to harm his reputation, and therefore make him annoyed with her. Is that right, Pansy?" Hermione said.

"Why would I want to get Draco more likely to ally himself with me, though?" Pansy asked Hermione. "We're Slytherins, so we work together anyway."

"Because you _like_ him." Daphne said, smiling.

"No I don't." Pansy protested.

"Yes you do." Daphne responded.

"No, you do." Pansy argued, picking up a pillow.

"How dare you!" Daphne said, tossing her pillow at Pansy.

"Hey! You just declared war!" Pansy said.

"Bring it on! Daphne's right. You _do_ like him!" Tracey said, picking up her pillow too.

"Yeah right. That's just a clever cover-up for Daphne." Millicent told Tracey. "And, anyway, Daphne, you're parents probably already made a deal with his par…" Millicent never finished that sentence because she was hit straight in the face with a pillow from Daphne. At that point, several things happened at once. Daphne grabbed Hermione's pillow just as Millicent spouted at least five different curse words. Tracey through her pillow at Pansy, who had just thrown hers at Tracey.

"Yeah, and they taught me to be a stupid little lady, huh?" Daphne said, indicating the pillow that had nailed Millicent in her face.

At that point it devolved into full-out war. Good natured war, sure, but there sure were a lot of flying green pillows. Even Hermione joined in (although she though pillow wars were a most childish practice even if they were so…fun) on Daphne and Tracey's side. With a cry of "WingardiumLeviosa!" all the pillows on the floor began to levitate as Hermione raised her wand higher and higher before falling down on Pansy's head.

"No fair!" Pansy protested as Daphne started laughing.

Half an hour later, all five of the first year Slytherin girls were unable to stop laughing and utterly exhausted.

"So who won?" Tracey asked.

"Let's vote." Daphne said.

"I'm not that stupid!" Millicent responded.

"Let's call it a draw." Hermione said.

"Sure." Pansy said.

"We need to have a ceremony or something to conclude the First Great Pillow War of Slytherin." Daphne stated.

"I'll do it." Hermione volunteered. "Daphne and Pansy were pretty much the team leaders, so you two…er, say 'I hereby agree to conclude the First Great Pillow War of Slytherin and accept that it is a tie.'" The two girls repeated it, Pansy rolling her eyes. Then she had them walk across the room and shake hands, which sent Tracey into another fit of laughter.

"I'm going to bed." Millicent said, collecting her pillow and brushing it off.

"Let's agree never to mention this. To anyone. Ever." Pansy said.

"Why? Oh, of course. You're worried _Draco_ will find out." Daphne teased.

"No." Pansy said. "And anyway, do you want your parents to find out that you engaged in a pillow fight?"

"I guess not." Daphne said.

"Pillow fights are perfectly ridiculous and I would never participate in one." Millicent said.

They all touched the Slytherin crest in the room and all said simultaneously that they would not tell another Hogwarts student about the pillow fight in the first year Slytherin girls' dormitory.

"Goodnight." Daphne said.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"Be quiet, I'm trying to sleep." Millicent grumbled.

"Goodnight to you too, Millicent." Hermione said.

"Call me Millie."

"Goodnight."


	6. Ch6: Potions Class

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter universe.**

 **Please review!**

The next day, Hermione walked with the other Slytherins down to breakfast, carrying barely any books. All she had that morning was Charms, so she didn't need much. All the Slytherin girls were chatting with each other. _So it takes a war between us to unify us._ Hermione thought. _Interesting._

She also was quite surprised that they made time for music at Hogwarts; the curriculum was very odd and not well-rounded.

As she ate her breakfast, Hermione wondered if the Charms teacher would be following the order of progression in the textbook. She had memorized the book by heart and practiced the spells that she thought would be the most useful: the levitating charm (Wingardium Leviosa), the wand lighting charm (lumos) along with its opposite, and the mending charm. Most likely, they would learn lumos this class.

The owls all swooped into the Great Hall, dropping letters and packages by their owners' plates. Archimedes delivered Hermione a letter from her father again, and jumped up and down as Hermione read it.

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _It does seem like your year is a little strange with the Greengrass heir, the Malfoy heir, and the Boy Who Lived all taking classes together. This does make your job a bit harder, but it also means there's a lot more that you can potentially gain. You should make alliances with at least one of them, two preferably. Since Harry Potter is in Gryffindor, your best bet is probably to ally yourself with Daphne Greengrass and Draco Malfoy._

 _I, too, had Professor Binns as a teacher. You should just ignore him unless being the only one to take notes gains you something. And as you said, Professor Quirrell is likely to only be there one year like all defense professors. Some things never change._

 _I trust you to make smart choices._

 _Father,_

 _Your_

Hermione looked around for Archimedes, and watched him jump off the table. In her desperate attempt to catch him, she almost knocked over her pumpkin juice. The little owl was too fast, however, and he flapped away out of the Great Hall. At the Gryffindor table, she saw Potter and Weasley laughing at her.

"Don't mind them." Blaise said. "Do you need help searching for your owl?"

"No, he'll turn up." Hermione said, trying not to care about the Gryffindors making fun of her. "The lady at the pet shop had said that he liked to wander."

Charms class was easy. They learned to cast lumos (Hermione had been right) and Professor Flitwick gave Slytherin one point for how bright Hermione's light was. After class, she went back to the common room to work on an essay on why lumos took a spherical shape. Then she went to lunch with the other Slytherins, planning to look for Archimedes after Herbology.

"Do you play an instrument?" She asked Pansy and Daphne.

"I play flute." Daphne said as Pansy replied no. A conversation started on if they played instruments. Blaise Zabini played cello and Millicent played drums (of course). Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were rubbish at every instrument in existence. Tracey could play clarinet, and Theodore Nott played violin. Draco Malfoy played violin too, and was convinced that he was better than Theodore. Hermione played oboe. When the teacher had said that oboe was the most difficult instrument and that most students quit after one year, Hermione couldn't help herself. The oboe sounded nice anyway when it was played well.

After lunch, Hermione, Daphne, Blaise, Millie, Tracey, Draco, and Theodore walked to the music room together. Professor Flitwick ran the musical activities for 1st -3rd years, and somehow also managed to teach Charms. He handed out the music to three songs and they rehearsed them rather slowly and incorrectly. "Excellent, wonderful start! Beautiful music!" He stated cheerfully before starting to conduct the first song again. There was an oboe solo, which Hermione performed perfectly, in the second piece.

When music class was finished, they all went to Herbology. It was nice to have a hands-on activity, but when they were told to work with the Leaping Fungi, Daphne was hit by a shower of dirt and screamed. Terry Boot immediately started laughing, which Daphne put a stop to with a glare. When Herbology was over, Daphne ran straight up to the showers. No longer covered in dirt, the girls set off for their common room. On the way, Hermione heard a strange hooting sound.

"What is it, Hermione?" Tracey asked.

"I just heard something weird. I'll catch up." Hermione assured them as she walked towards the source of the noise. What she saw was a classroom door behind which was the hooting sounds of an owl and two very similar voices. She looked through the keyhole and saw two identical red-headed boys feeding something in a cup to a very hyper owl.

A closer look revealed that that the cup was full of coffee and that there were seven open packets of sugar on the ground. The Weasley twins were feeding Archimedes coffee.

The Weasley twins were feeding her owl coffee! With extra sugar!

"I don't see any difference, Gred." One of them was saying.

"Well, Forge, the owl was already hyper to begin with." Hermione tried to open the door but instead found it locked.

"Alohamora." She whispered. There was a click and the door opened. "That's my owl, you know!" She said loudly.

"So?" Gred (she was pretty sure that wasn't his name) asked.

"You've been feeding him coffee!" Hermione responded.

"Feeding him coffee?"

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

"More likely, you've been feeding him coffee – "

"And now you want to blame it on us."

"Exactly, Forge."

"It's been your cunning plan."

"We can see right through you, Slytherin."

"Hey! It's not fair to define someone by their house. And it's against the rules to kidnap someone else's pet!"

"What's your name?" Forge asked.

"Hermione Granger, and this is my owl, Archimedes. And it _is_ against the rules according to Section 33 Rule 91." Hermione answered, snatching her owl away as he tried to fly around.

"You'll soon find – "

"- Hermione – "

"- that no one cares – "

"- about the rules."

"Yes they do, and besides it's just _wrong_ to do that to a poor little owl!" Archimedes had escaped from her hands and was flying around in circles.

"Is it Gred?"

"I didn't know, Forge."

"Maybe we should actually – " Hermione grabbed Archimedes and stormed out of the room.

"The Weasley twins stole my owl and fed it coffee!" She complained to her friends.

"Who did what?" Tracey asked.

"The two Weasley twins found my owl and fed it coffee with extra sugar." Archimedes had freed himself and was spinning around. Hermione grabbed him and carried him back to their dormitories where she pushed the tiny caffeinated owl into his cage. "Sorry about that." She told Archimedes.

"We should probably bring him to Professor Kettleburn." Daphne said.

"He was a Gryffindor. What about Professor Snape?" Millie suggested.

"No way! He's probably kill the owl or something!" Tracey said.

" _Tracey!"_

"It's true."

"Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asked.

"She's got no time to deal with hyper owls." Said Daphne.

"I'll take him to Professor Kettleburn." Hermione said. The other Slytherins followed her as they went to leave the building.

"What are you five doing?" Professor Snape asked, staring at Archimedes flapping around in his cage. He had run into them when they were nearing the exit.

"The Weasley twins fed my owl coffee, sir." Hermione explained.

"I see. And why did they have your owl in the first place?"

"He flew off during breakfast, Professor." Daphne said. "They must have found the owl, because Hermione heard a weird noise, said she was going to figure out what it was, and came back with the owl."

"What exactly happened, Miss Granger?" Professor Snape asked.

"I saw a classroom door and heard Archimedes hooting behind it as well as two boys talking. I opened it and found them, I had seen them through the keyhole feeding it coffee. Then they said that they hadn't and that I had been and wanted to blame it on them like a Slytherin. I told them it was against the rules and they said no one cares about the rules. That was when I grabbed my owl and left." Hermione told him.

Professor Snape sighed. "Five points from Gryffindor for rule breaking. And now, I think a simple sleeping potion should take care of your owl's caffeinated state." He pulled a potion out of a pocket in his robes (Hermione wondered why he walked around with sleeping potions) and fed a small bit of it to Archimedes. The owl immediately stopped flying and fell asleep.

"Will he be okay?" Tracey asked.

"The owl will be fine." Professor Snape said before leaving. "Next time don't bother me with such silly problems."

When they reached their common room, Hermione immediately took out her theory of magic textbook and sat down in a seat to read it.

"What are you, a Ravenclaw?" Millie asked, glaring at the book.

"I'm trying to look for something. Important discoveries help with becoming Minister of Magic." Hermione responded. But after ten minutes of searching through the book, she could find nothing. There wasn't anything in her Transfiguration textbook either.

Hermione went to the box of matches in the common room, which were there to practice basic transfiguration, and brought ten matches back to the table. If she was right, her theory was not that important – just interesting. Someone had found it before and just didn't write it down because it didn't really help Transfiguration that much. "Millie, can you help me with something?" She asked.

"What?" Millie asked suspiciously. "I'm not going to read a book."

"I just need you to time some things." Hermione said.

"Alright then." Hermione's experiment wasn't that scientific, but if it worked how she thought it would then it would be definite. She placed her wand on one of the matches, and asked Millie to give her 20 minutes. Hermione worked in silence, imagining the match morphing into a needle as well as having all the properties of a needle. When the 20 minutes was up, the match was a complete needle. On her next test, Hermione imagined it morphing into a needle but only thought about the image of a needle. This time, the needle did not make the metal sound when dropped on something hard but it went quickly. The third test, where they were switched, caused it to act like a needle, but it made Hermione feel really tired. And the final test, which used just the image of a needle, made the match all shiny and pointy but didn't actually turn it into one.

"Ok, what was the point of that?" Asked Millie. "You turned a match into a needle twice, and twice you didn't.

"I've concluded two things: one, transfiguration must be complete – if you imagine it one way, you must make it that way with a burst of magic that takes a while to build up. Two, in order to create a true needle, you need to think about all of a needle's aspects. But that doesn't make sense: You're just making a like-needle, not a true one. Although when you think about it, a needle is defined by a set of characteristics, which we learned all about. If you fulfill those, you do have a true needle. This is more a problem with animal transfiguration because you cannot create a true animal."

"Huh?" Millie asked.

"I found something out about transfiguration."

"Oh, ok." Hermione went to work on her charms essay, wondering what Millicent had against the poor books.

Wednesday and Thursday went by quickly, with no new classes except Astronomy. They had to go to Professor Sinistra at midnight to learn all about the planets and stars. It really would be quite fascinating, if the students weren't so tired. Hermione's training for staying up late helped her, placing her even more firmly at the top of her year.

In her free time, Hermione continued searching the book of rules for ones no one remembered and loopholes. Apparently Professor Snape refused to punish rule breaking in Slytherin whenever possible, but sometimes he had to. But if one could argue that it technically _wasn't_ against the rules, then he would have an excuse to not take points from Slytherin. Hermione also spent time talking with her friends – she still had to get used to that word; she had never had friends before – learning about what their lives were like at home.

Daphne's family was rich nobility who hired tutors to teach her history and politics. However, they never actually talked to her and her sister, Astoria unless it was in public or to tell them how they messed up. Both of her parents had been Slytherins, and the Greengrasses were the most pure-blooded family in Britain.

Completely the opposite, Tracey's family had barely any money. Tracey's mother was a witch and her father was a muggle. Tracey's father knew that Tracey and her mother were witches, and they sold second-hand robes together in Diagon Alley. Millie's parents were both magical. Her mother worked in the ministry and her father sold rather fearsome dogs and cats. Both had been under an Imperious Curse (they claimed) and forced to work for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Pansy's father was a muggle and her mother was a wizard. Pansy's mother had used a love spell on Pansy's father, but it was unnecessary as he already loved her. Her mother was a singer, and her father taught in a muggle boarding school.

Crabbe and Goyle (even Draco Malfoy called them that; Crabbe was crab-like and Goyle reminded Hermione of a gargoyle) both had completely magical parents. Hermione knew their parents escaped being sentenced to Azkaban because of a series of bribes by Lucius Malfoy in exchange for Crabbe and Goyle being Draco Malfoy's bodyguards. Hermione had visited their houses before (Crabbe and Goyle lived next to each other), and their parents opinion was that Hermione's father wasn't worth their time but there was no reason why Hermione had to end up like her father. Crabbe and Goyle weren't very friendly, preferring grunts to words and refusing to even look at a book, but Goyle's older sister, Tara, was clever and willing to talk to Hermione.

Zabini's mother was a beautiful and talented witch whose husbands had a habit of dying and leaving her large sums of money. She was always traveling, leaving Zabini with Theodore. Theodore Nott's parents had also slipped out of a sentence for Azkaban somehow, and he had an older brother, David Nott, who played Beater and planned to be a professional Quidditch player. Draco Malfoy's father had obviously been a Death Eater, although he had claimed that he was under the Imperious Curse. His family had a lot of money, as well as a lot of political influence. He had been spoiled his entire childhood, meaning he acted like a brat, and had never done any chores in his life.

At last, Friday came. All they had was a long potions lesson with the afternoon off. Draco had been talking about it all of Thursday, especially the part about how his father was friends with Professor Snape. "Hey, look! Potter's got a letter!" Draco Malfoy said. "I wonder who it's from – Mr. Weasley, begging for money?" Pansy laughed and Crabbe and Goyle chuckled meanly, but honestly it was a bad joke – even by Malfoy's standards (his jokes in general made absolutely no sense).

Potions class was held in the dungeons, rather close to the Slytherin common room. It was cold and damp and rather creepy, which made Hermione wonder why Slytherin chose for the common room to be built by the dungeons. When she thought about it, though, she concluded that Slytherin must have liked potions, which needed to be stored in a cold environment. Or maybe he was sickly and needed the potions to survive or maybe he just liked creepy things.

The potions classroom was even spookier than the rest of the dungeons (at least as far as Hermione had seen). There were weird glowing stones, creatures floating around in around in glass jars, and a lot, actually a lot didn't quite cover it, of eyeballs. Professor Snape started the class by taking roll call, pausing. "Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity." Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy sniggered. Snape continued with the roll call, looking up when he finished. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making." He practically whispered. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you to really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads I usually have to teach. Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Potter looked at Weasley, who seemed very confused. Hermione, knowing it was the Draught of Living Death, resisted the urge to raise her hand. Obviously, Professor Snape didn't want anyone interfering with his humiliation of Harry Potter. The question became what he hated so much about the first year Gryffindor. Still, Hermione wasn't quite sure if it was exactly _fair_ , for him to expect Potter to know a specific random fact from one of his textbooks. Not everyone could memorize something after reading it just three times, And as cool as it was to have a teacher that always gave points to your house, Hermione knew that it was _wrong_ , and completely against what the point system was for. But the only students with the power to do anything were Slytherins, and why would they complain about being given compliments and house points?

"I don't know, sir." Potter said.

"Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything. Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" It was so difficult to avoid the compulsion to raise her hand, but she knew that if she did, one of two things would happen. Either she would get in trouble (unlikely), or Professor Snape would call on her for the answers, further humiliating Potter and making her friends like her better. The second, which was probable, didn't seem so bad. Sure, Hermione knew it was also _wrong_ , but it would help her standings among the other Slytherins. Hermione gave in and raised her hand. Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were shaking with laughter.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?" Somehow the first year managed to keep looking straight at Professor Snape's eyes, which were completely ignoring Hermione's hand. That meant that the second would probably happen. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfs bane?" Hermione raised her hand even higher, making Weasley shoot her a glare.

"I don't know. But Granger thinks she does, so why don't you ask her trivia questions?" A few Gryffindors laughed.

"Granger, why don't you answer the questions which are too difficult for Potter's childish mind?"

"Well, asphodel and wormwood make the Draught of Living Death, which is a sleeping potion. Bezoars are taken from the stomach of a goat, and they're a good antidote to several poisons. And monkshood and wolfsbane are the same thing, which is also sometimes called aconite."

"One point to Slytherin. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down? And one point from Gryffindor House for cheek, Potter." The class got out their quills and parchment and began to write it down. Without a demonstration, Professor Snape waved his wand, making the potions cupboard open, and then told them to get in pairs to mix a boil curing potion. Pansy and Tracey paired up, and Hermione worked with Daphne. Poor Millicent was left to work with Crabbe. Professor Snape swept around in his black cloak, rather like a vampire, criticizing every potion except Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott's and Hermione and Daphne's although he spent all of his time complimenting Malfoy.

"That is a correct way to stew in your horned slugs, Mr. Malfoy. This entire class should seek to stew them just as he did." At that moment, clouds of acid green smoke began to fill the classroom. Longbottom had managed to melt his partner's cauldron into a blob, and their potion was spreading across the floor. Hermione stood up on a chair to avoid the flow, but Longbottom was moaning and covered in boils.

"Idiot boy!" Professor Snape sent Longbottom to the hospital wing and vanished the potion before turning on Potter and Weasley. Blaming Potter for the accident, he took another point from Gryffindor.

When they finally got out of Potions class an hour later, Hermione was very confused. "I know Potter's annoying, but what's Professor Snape got against him? And how come he blamed Potter for an accident Longbottom caused?"

"It's because he _can_." Tracey said. "Anyway, who wants to play gobstones with me?"

It turned out that gobstones spit out a disgusting liquid which smelled horrible. Thankfully, it disappeared in a matter of minutes, but it was still annoying. Hermione finished her homework, and played several enjoyable games of gobstones and Exploding Snap (wizarding games were really dangerous for some reason). She also wrote a letter to her father:

 _Dear Father,_

 _This week has gone by very well. I've made friends with the other Slytherin girls, and done very well in all of my classes. I've also discovered a trick for Transfiguration, although I'm certain it's been found before (or at least all wizards/witches good at Transfiguration learn to do it with time). Potter and Weasley have been annoying, but Professor Snape was really mean to Potter especially. What does he have against him? I've started on a project on examining the school rules – not that I intend to break them of course. The Weasley twins, Gred and Forge or something like that, captured Archimedes and fed him coffee with extra sugar, which is why I haven't been able to write._

 _I hope that Mother isn't being a nightmare._

 _Hermione,_

 _Love From_


	7. Ch7: Flying Lessons

**Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the delay; I've been rather busy lately. Time is going to start to pass faster now that Hermione has had all her classes. I tried to write a longer chapter than usual, bit it ended up shorter than some of the chapters here anyway.**

 **Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to J. K. Rowling.**

The weekend passed by quickly. Hermione finished her rules project, writing down all the loopholes in the book and memorizing the frequently-broken rules. There were, of course, lots of essays to be finished, so Hermione helped Pansy and Tracey with them as Daphne generally preferred to work on her own. Daphne seemed to be getting more distant, staring out the window frequently and staying away from the Slytherin boys. When Hermione tried to ask her what was wrong, Daphne replied "nothing".

Hermione had owled her father on this matter, and he had said not to push it. Instead, if Daphne didn't start talking to people soon, she was to make alliances with the Malfoy heir no matter how full of himself he was. Hermione really hoped that Daphne started becoming friendly again.

When they returned to school on Monday, Hermione continued to do well in her classes, doing her best to stay away from Potter and Weasley. It wasn't that difficult, since she only had Potions with the Gryffindors and they seemed to be avoiding the Slytherins. The Hogwarts library was amazing, filled with books and completely _quiet_. That was also where she met Padma Patil, an intelligent Ravenclaw girl who loved to discuss Astronomy. She had a twin sister, Parvarti Patil, who was in Gryffindor, but Padma was willing to talk to Slytherins. Padma and Hermione worked on their star charts together, Padma dispensing useful information about Mars along the way.

On Thursday, they had their first flying lesson – with the Gryffindors. Hermione groaned, but Draco Malfoy seemed excited. "Ha! I bet Potter will make quite a fool of himself." Pansy just rolled her eyes in response, since Malfoy was always insulting Potter. Well, Potter was obnoxious and deserved it, but Hermione didn't want to hear about him every single time the Slytherins had a conversation together! Meanwhile, Malfoy was boasting about his flying skills.

"- and then," Malfoy was saying, "I was hanging off my broomstick, still piloting it, and trying to avoid the helicopter blades of that machine the filthy muggle was riding. But I was smarter than that muggle scum, and I went up, confusing him, and dove back towards the ground, narrowly avoiding _death_!" He was always bragging about escaping muggles in helicopters, and because most of the stories were highly unrealistic if you've ever seen a helicopter, Hermione was certain that he had made them up.

Unlike Malfoy, who was utterly confident in his flying skills, Hermione was very nervous about Thursday afternoon. At breakfast on Thursday morning, Hermione felt rather sick. She had gotten a book called Quidditch Through the Ages and recited all the flying tips that were listed. Hermione had never ridden on a broom before, so she was worried about embarrassing herself in front of her new friends. Looking around the room, she saw Longbottom receive a small glass ball full of white smoke, which she recognized as a Remembrall. Malfoy noticed too, and Hermione gave a small groan. Yes, Longbottom was an idiot, but he had seemed rather nice. The last thing he needed was Malfoy picking on him. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle all stood up and began to walk towards the Gryffindor table, with the rest of the first year Slytherins watching from afar. Professor McGonagall had apparently spotted the look on Malfoy's face when he saw the Remembrall and was running towards the Gryffindors. Malfoy snatched Longbottom's Remembrall out of his hands, causing Potter and Weasley to jump to their feet. Hermione watched as McGonagall arrived and Malfoy dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

The first part of the day passed in a blur, going to all of her classes and thinking about the flying lesson to come. It was a nice day, the sun shining brightly as the first year Slytherins traveled towards the grounds. "Good Quidditch weather," Theodore Nott was saying, looking at the sky. "The school brooms are rubbish, of course, but it's good that we've got flying lessons today instead of yesterday." The previous day had brought a huge storm, which had almost ruined Hermione's books. Luckily, Gemma Farley, one of the prefects, had cast a charm on them to make them impervious to water. Soon, the Gryffindors arrived, talking noisily amongst themselves.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Madam Hooch, the flying instructor with hawk-like yellow eyes, said sharply. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up. Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'"

Hermione stared down at her old broom and shouted "UP!" Her broom rolled over on the ground. "Up!" She said again. "Up. Up." She pleaded. She couldn't be bad at this, she had to prove herself since she was a half-blood. It was very, very important that she didn't mess this up! "Up!" Finally, the broom shot into the air and hit her in the nose. "Ouch!"

"You okay?" Pansy asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Hermione said quickly, wondering why she had to be the worst one at Quidditch. Well, actually she wasn't the worst; that was Longbottom, whose hadn't moved at all. Madam Hooch demonstrated the way to sit on the broom, pacing up and down the rows of broomsticks to correct the students' grips.

"No, no, no, Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Hooch said, moving Malfoy's hands into the proper position. " _This_ is the correct way!"

"This is how my father said to do it! I've always done it this way!" Malfoy protested.

"And is your father the teacher? You've been doing it wrong for years. Now pay attention." Madam Hooch commanded. Hermione heard Weasley and Potter laugh at this statement, apparently just as keen to see Malfoy embarrassed as he was to see them make fools of themselves.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly." Hermione felt apprehensive about flying so early, but she couldn't _not_ lift off so she didn't have much of a choice. "On my whistle – three – two -"

But Longbottom pushed off the ground before Madam Hooch had even begun to blow the whistle and He shot off the ground like a bullet out of a gun. Rising higher and higher in the air, Hermione watched him look down and slip, falling sideways off the broom, there was nothing Hermione could do, and –

THUD! He hit the ground with a sickening crunch and something cracked as he fell face-down on the grass in a heap. Madam Hooch bent over Longbottom, ignoring his broomstick which was drifting off towards the forbidden forest. "Broken wrist, come on, boy – it's all right, up you get." Malfoy was trying to conceal his laughter, and for a second Hermione felt like asking him what Longbottom ever did to him, but then she remembered that it was wise not to offend the people in power. Madam Hooch turned to the rest of the class and told them not to move or else they'd be expelled. Supporting Longbottom, Madam Hooch guided the boy off to the hospital wing.

As soon as they were out of sight, Malfoy burst into laughter, no longer trying to hide his amusement. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins began to laugh to, except Daphne. But Daphne never laughed or expressed much emotion ever, so that was to be expected. Hermione on the other hand, was supposed to laugh. She didn't want to, but that was what her father would expect, so she joined in as best she could.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Parvati Patil, one of the Gryffindor girls, snapped.

"Sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy responded. "Never thought _you'd_ like a fat little crybaby." She looked at Hermione, expecting her to say something.

"Look at that, it's the Remembrall his gran sent him!" Hermione said, not believing what was coming out of her mouth. She did what she had to do…but this was going a bit too far.

"Thanks, Granger!" Malfoy said, darting forwards and snatching something out of the grass.

"Give that here, Malfoy." Potter challenged. Everyone stopped chattering and turned to watch the conflict that was almost certainly about to occur.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find – how about a tree?"

"Give it _here!_ " Potter yelled.

Malfoy glanced at the castle to check for Madam Hooch before leaping onto his broomstick and taking off. Malfoy stopped to hover level with the topmost branches of an oak tree, before calling "come and get it, Potter!" Potter, like the idiot he was, grabbed his broom and soared up into the air. Hermione noticed that he was actually flying well, despite her and Pansy coming to the conclusion that he had been raised by muggles. All the Gryffindor girls and Tracey screamed and gasped, and Weasley gave an admiring whoop.

Potter turned his broomstick to face Malfoy. "Give it here or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" Malfoy sneered. Hermione could tell he was worried. Potter shot forwards, with Malfoy escaping just in time. Potter turned sharply, making Patil and Brown clap. So the idiot Potter not only breaks the rules, he also gets applause for it? Malfoy was right, Hogwarts really was becoming a disaster.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy!" Potter called.

"Catch it if you can, then!" Malfoy shouted, throwing the glass ball high into the air and streaking back towards the ground.

"Good one, Draco!" Theodore Nott said, high-fiving Malfoy. Wizards did high-fives? Purebloods did something muggles did? It was actually pretty amusing to Hermione.

Meanwhile, Potter dove downwards, Gryffindors screaming, and stretched out his hand. He caught the ball a foot from the ground and toppled onto the grass.

"HARRY POTTER!" McGonagall shouted, running towards the students assembled on the training grounds. Potter got to his feet, trembling. "Never – in all my time at Hogwarts – how dare you – you might have broken your neck!"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor!" Patil protested.

"Be quiet!" McGonagall snapped. She was scary when she was angry, even more frightening than usual.

"But Malfoy –"

"That's quite enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." Malfoy grinned triumphantly, watching Potter follow Professor McGonagall back into the castle. Professor Snape and Madam Hooch ran towards the students, their robes streaming behind them.

"What happened?" Madam Hooch asked, staring at the students. "Mr. Nott, what exactly occurred that made Mr. Potter dive fifty feet on a broomstick when I told you all to not move an inch?"

"Potter wanted to show off, Professor." Nott said, looking straight at Professor Snape. "So he decided to do some stupid tricks in the air."

"No, Madam Hooch, it was Malfoy, he stole Malfoy's Remembrall and tried to drop it!" Weasley protested.

"It's true, Professor!" One of the Gryffindor boys agreed, nodding.

"What punishment do you think will be suitable for Mr. Malfoy?" Madam Hooch asked.

"I hardly think that the word of obviously biased Gryffindors should be taken on this matter." Professor Snape said. Hermione wasn't sure what she should be doing, so she stayed silent.

"We shall wait until Professor McGonagall arrives." Madam Hooch said. "For now, students, sit down away from the broomsticks." Hermione sat down along with the other students. She felt rather nervous, as if everyone there was going to get in trouble. They might – Professor McGonagall favored the Gryffindor students, and she might blame all the Slytherins for the incident. Soon, Professor McGonagall ran down the marble steps and out onto the grounds.

"What is happening?" Professor McGonagall asked. "Are you unable to find out what happened?"

"We are receiving…conflicting reports." Professor Snape stated. "The Gryffindors accused Mr. Malfoy of riding his broomstick and provoking Mr. Potter, although every single one of my Slytherins agrees with me that he would not be that foolish."

"If the Gryffindors all say that's what happened, then we can safely conclude that that is precisely what happened." Madam Hooch said, her yellow eyes firing up angrily.

"The Gryffindors are known for telling untruths." Professor Snape responded carefully. "And every single one of the Slytherins here agrees that Mr. Malfoy did not break any of the rules. Ask any one of them."

"Very well, I shall ask one of the Slytherins, and if they say Mr. Malfoy is innocent then we shall say he is not proven guilty. But if not – then in that case expulsion would be in order. I am aware of certain students' tendency to frame their rivals in the most negative manner possible." Professor McGonagall said, scanning the group of Slytherin students. Her eyes finally landed on Hermione, and she was sure that Professor McGonagall was recalling the previous Slytherin Transfiguration class in which Hermione had managed to turn in a three foot long essay instead of the required foot. "Miss Granger? Please tell me exactly what occurred."

Hermione didn't know what to do. She did not want to lie to a teacher, but she couldn't make an enemy of Malfoy, that would be a complete disaster. And she couldn't choose halfway; any lie she told would have to be utterly convincing. Taking a deep breath, Hermione began her story. "As soon as Madam Hooch left, Weasley began to insult Longbottom, saying that he was almost a squib if he couldn't even keep his broom on the ground. Potter joined in, saying that even though he had never ridden a broomstick before he could do much better. So first he stole Longbottom's Remembrall and tossed it around a bit. And then, he got on his broomstick and flew up into the air. All the Gryffindors were encouraging him, and he did some turns on the broomstick before flying up really high. Right by that oak tree over there. He dropped the Remembrall and dove for it, which is where you found saw him."

"Thank you, Miss Granger, I trust that you told the truth." Professor McGonagall said. It made Hermione feel bad, really evil inside. She had lied to a teacher. She had just lied to a teacher! Hermione must have broken at least three school rules. Yes, she could count them: _Be completely honest with any and all members of the staff_ , as well as _Show the utmost respect to all members of the staff_ , and there was _Do not spread falsehoods about other students or staff members._ Oh wait, there was also _Show respect to your fellow students._ Hermione had broken four school rules, all to make an alliance. Actually, it was more to avoid making an enemy because Malfoy would have managed to not get expelled. He would have detention or something, and then try to get revenge. There really was no choice. "Well, I really do have no choice – thirty points from Gryffindor for Mr. Potter's behavior." Professor McGonagall continued, adding "Yes, Miss Brown, from my own house" when Lavender Brown tried to protest. Class is dismissed."

The Slytherins and Gryffindors rushed towards the castle, Slytherins trying to get in there so that they didn't get in a fight with Gryffindors because they lied and Gryffindors chasing after the Slytherins to confront them. "You know you lied, Granger!" Hermione turned around to see Weasley and Finnigan behind her, wands pointed. "And you're not going to get away with telling lies about Harry like that!"

"We're not going to let Slytherins bully Harry Potter, and I'm sure the other Gryffindors would agree. It's you that should be expelled!" Finnigan said, practically shouting. The other Slytherins turned around at the noise.

"It's you who's bullying us." Hermione said coldly. "Step down, there's more of us than you." Weasley looked like he was going to argue, but Professor Snape conveniently chose that time to sweep past, giving Hermione the time to move away from the Gryffindors.

"Where are you going, Hermione?" Pansy asked. "You're right, there's more of us than them."

"It's not worth it." Hermione said. She still felt really bad about lying, especially since Potter really hadn't done anything to her. They walked back to their common room, talking only once they were clear of the Gryffindors.

"Wow, she actually believed you Hermione!" Tracey said, smiling. "Because you're her star student or something. That's really useful!"

"Really Slytherin." Zabini added. "If everyone believes you, Gryffindor will be in negative house points by the time the year's up!" Hermione nodded, although she secretly hated that she was getting congratulated for breaking the ruled. It was just – wrong. That was an interesting use of the word. Her father had told her that "wrong" was what didn't help her. Lying helped, so how could it be wrong? And yet – Hermione kept remembering the look on Professor McGonagall's face when she said that she was sure Hermione was telling the truth.

"Hey, Granger?" Malfoy said, interrupting Hermione's faults. "Thanks for telling her that. I mean, my father's on the school board, so I wouldn't have gotten expelled, but you saved me from a few detentions. And got Gryffindor to lose 30 points, taken by Professor McGonagall no less!" He grinned at the last part. Again, Hermione hated everyone acting like she had just done something great, but if she had already lied she might as well do what her father would want.

"You're welcome. Slytherins have to stick together." Hermione responded. Of course, Slytherins didn't stick together, that was something that most learned by sixth year, but still. It was as good of a response as she could think of."

"Mind if I call you Hermione?"

"Sure." The Slytherins finished walking back to the common room, and Nott spoke the password. Hermione had been planning to work on her herbology essay, but she really, really needed to owl her father. She wrote from the dormitory, using her favorite quill.

 _Dear Father,_

 _The past few days have been rather ordinary, except for an incident that occurred today. I made a new friend, Padma Patil. She's a pureblood Ravenclaw whose parents came here to get away from a war in their home country._

 _I've been doing well in my classes, and today we've had our first flying lesson. Apparently, brooms don't really like me, and sadly they're not something that you learn from a book, but at least I'm better than Longbottom! He rose up into the air too early and couldn't control his broom, so he fell and broke his wrist. Professor Hooch said that we would be expelled if we flew at all we would be expelled. Everyone immediately began to insult Longbottom, at least the Slytherins, and the Gryffindors were trying to defend him when Draco Malfoy found the Remembrall that Longbottom had gotten at breakfast. Potter yelled for him to give it back, and for some reason (was he purposely trying to lose Slytherin points?) Malfoy started flying into the air with the Remembrall. Then, Potter follows him up and they all have some sort of air argument over the Remembrall (is it seriously worth getting expelled for?) and Malfoy drops it 50 feet. Potter dives down to catch it, Malfoy returning to the ground first. McGonagall comes in just as he manages to somehow catch it a foot from the ground and takes him into the castle. Professor Snape and Madam Hooch came out to see exactly what happened._

 _Of course, the Gryffindors said it was Malfoy's fault and Malfoy and his cronies denied that he even touched his broomstick. They waited until Professor McGonagall came out, and then she was going to believe the Gryffindors until Professor Snape said any of the Slytherins would deny it because they weren't biased by the Gryffindor urge to lie. And I don't know why, but Professor McGonagall agreed to that and asked me exactly what happened. I guess I was her favorite Slytherin because I'm the best in her subject. She actually gave me house points for that, and she favors the Gryffindors! Anyway, I didn't want to lie about it, but if I told the truth Slytherin would lose lots of points and then Malfoy would want revenge. So I said that Potter was just trying to show off. But it still feels wrong somehow._

 _After class, the Gryffindors attempted to fight me and my friends, but Professor Snape came by just in time and we avoided conflict. Malfoy seemed grateful that I lied about it, even though I was just trying to not be hated by the other Slytherins, but as you told me, it's really useful if someone in a position of power owes you something._

Hermione decided to leave the letter unfinished, because she had the feeling that something interesting would happen at dinner, but she rolled it up and stuck it in her bag. Then she took out her Herbology books and began to work on her essay.

"Hermione!" She tried not to groan as she saw Draco Malfoy behind her along with Crabbe and Goyle. "I've got a plan to get back at Potter and Weasley, and I thought you might want to help."

"Ok." Hermione said, although there were much better uses of her time. "I'm ahead on homework, I can help."

"Right. Potter and Weasley are idiots, so we challenge them to a wizards duel and of course they'll accept because they're Gryffindors." Draco begins.

"You're not going to the wizards duel, are you? Because Slytherin could lose a lot of points."

"Of course not! I was going to anonymously tip off Filch about them being in the trophy room, but there's a chance he won't believe it and think it's a trick to get him out of the way for students to sneak around somewhere else and we could accomplish the opposite."

"So you want me to tip him off in person."

"We could earn Slytherin lots of points for informing Filch about rule breakers, and Gryffindor would lose lots of points." Draco reasoned.

"Alright."

"And is it okay if I choose you for my second in the wizards duel that's not going to happen? Because I don't want to spend an hour explaining to Crabbe or Goyle that I tricked Potter and Weasley and we're not actually going."

"Sure." Hermione really just wanted to get back to her homework, but this would get Weasley in trouble and he had been trying to threaten her earlier that day.

"Eating your last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?" Hermione heard Draco say. She stood by Crabbe and Goyle, and also by Pansy, waiting for Draco to issue the challenge.

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you." Potter responded.

"I'd take you on anytime. Tonight, wizards duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has." Weasley defended. "I'm his second, who's yours?"

Draco turned around and pretended to be deciding. "Hermione. Midnight, all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked." They all walked off back to the Slytherin table to finish their dinner.

After dinner was over, Hermione started the walk to Filch's office. The room was gloomy and windowless with a single oil lamp dangling from the ceiling. The smell of fried fish filled the room and wooden filing cabinets were pushed against the wall. A shining mass of chains and manacles hung from the wall behind the wooden desk at which Filch sat.

"Granger, are you trying to dirty the floor? I just cleaned it, but of course you wouldn't care…you students laughing too much and _smiling_ , yes smiling like there's something wrong with your faces!"

"Um, Mr. Filch? I heard Potter and Weasley talking about how they were going to sneak into the trophy room tonight, and I just thought it would be best to, um, tell you that." Hermione said, slightly intimidated by the shackles hanging behind the desk. She wasn't lying, not technically. She did hear them agreeing to sneak into the trophy room, so it was okay if one of them threatened to hex her, right? Hermione really didn't want to be lying again, but she couldn't really refuse to tell Filch about Gryffindor rulebreakers.

"A likely story, that. More likely trying to sneak to the other side yourselves and trick me and Mrs. Norris." Filch said nastily, petting an ugly cat that had peeked out from behind the desk.

"Well, if that was my plan, sir, I wouldn't have come to you in person. I would have tipped you off anonymously so that you wouldn't suspect me." Hermione reasoned. Filch was obviously taken aback by the use of "sir", since most students weren't respectful to him in the slightest, and the logic did make sense.

"Erm, thank you, Granger, for the advice."

"You're welcome." Hermione said, leaving the room as quickly as possible without appearing to rush. That was probably the gloomiest place she had ever seen, and that smell was downright horrible.

When she got out, Hermione went back to the common room and added the part about the duel to her letter before sending it to her father with Archimedes. Then, she finished her homework and went to bed, trying not to wonder if Weasley and Potter would get caught.

The next day, Weasley and Potter were still at Hogwarts. Hermione should have known that Potter was too famous to get expelled, and now that they were still in Hogwarts they would have to watch out. They would know that she had been in on the plan, and Weasley had already tried to hex her after she got Potter in trouble for the broomstick incident. _And now, it couldn't possibly get worse_ , Hermione thought. _At least they seem to hate Malfoy more._ Hermione turned out to be wrong.

When the owls came in, dropping letters down to their owners, a large thin parcel was delivered to Potter. At once, Hermione knew what it was. A broomstick. Potter had broken the rules and he got a broomstick for it? Potter and Weasley started to take the broomstick out of the Great Hall in order to unwrap it.

"C'mon." Malfoy said to Crabbe and Goyle, leading them out of the room.

"We should follow." Pansy said. "Or else there might be an actual wizards duel." Hermione couldn't help but agree; Draco was always meaner when his cronies were around, and Potter and Weasley always managed to make everything into a fight. Hopefully if Pansy and Hermione followed, Slytherin wouldn't lose any points.

"You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them." Hermione heard Draco saying.

"It's not any old broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand!" Weasley said, grinning. "What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty? May look flashy, but not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"And you have to brag about your friend's possessions because you're too poor to have any of your own." Hermione found herself saying. It wasn't even a good insult, but she was still really annoyed with Weasley.

"Just because you thought of the plan to get us detention, Granger, doesn't mean that you can go around insulting me!" Weasley said angrily. He thought Hermione had created the plan? Oh, no, now he was really going to try and get revenge.

"Not arguing, I hope." Professor Flitwick said as he walked past. Potter began to talk with him, so Hermione left the room as quickly as possible and returned to the Slytherin common room. Before the year was over, Weasley was going to try to hex her, she was sure of that. _And_ , Hermione thought as she looked through her spell books, _when he does I'm going to be ready_.

 **AN: Please review; it definitely encourages me to keep writing. Next chapter will probably cover Halloween. And again, I apologize for the long delay for this chapter.**


	8. Ch8: Slytherins Stick Together

**AN: Thank you for reading this story! This chapter is a bit shorter than some of my others, but I'm going to start another story soon and I was preparing for that.**

 **Disclaimer: Of course I don't own the Harry Potter universe.**

The days at Hogwarts passed quickly. Daphne became even more distant, but Hermione became closer friends with Padma and Pansy. Before Hermione knew it, her birthday had arrived. No one knew, of course, and it was rather rude to insert something like that into the conversation, so she resigned herself to only having her father know. Her mother disliked even thinking about Hermione, so she probably wouldn't remember.

At breakfast, Archimedes swooped in with a letter and a small package. "What's that, Hermione?" Pansy asked, looking curiously at it. Hermione ripped open the letter, which was rather short:

 _Dear Hermione,_

 _Happy birthday! I hope you are doing well at Hogwarts. I have bought you several new books for you to read, especially on subjects outside the school curriculum. Archimedes is tiny, so I will have to send him in two trips._

 _Father,_

 _Your_

"It's my birthday today, so my father sent me some books!" Hermione said happily.

"It's your birthday?" Pansy asked, at the same time as Tracey Davis asked "Who would want books for their birthday?"

"Yes, it's my birthday today, I'm twelve now. And Tracey, who wouldn't want books?"

"Me." Tracey offered. "Crabbe. Goyle. Millie. All the Gryffindors."

"I suppose so, but I find books interesting." Tracey rolled her eyes in response. _Honestly,_ thought Hermione _, that girl should be a Hufflepuff, not a Slytherin._

After breakfast, the Slytherins had a free period. Normally, she would do her homework, but it was her birthday so she joined Pansy, Tracey, and Millie in a game of Exploding Snap. It was a rather stupid game, and when the cards exploded it hurt Hermione's ears and Tracey always screamed. But by the end of it, all of them were laughing and having fun.

The days passed quickly as the students began to master more and more spells. They finally learned to make objects fly in charms, and they moved onto wood warping in Transfiguration. Weasley and Potter were annoying as always, but at least Potter left her alone most of the time because he had Quidditch practice. Weasley, on the other hand, had taken to insulting her any way he could whenever he ran into her. Most of the time, it was about her large front teeth or about her bushy hair that she couldn't seem to fix. It was nothing Hermione hadn't heard before, but it was still at least slightly upsetting. She had hoped that by going to Hogwarts she would be able to avoid bullies.

On Halloween morning, Hermione woke up excited. Today, there was going to be a big celebration feast in the Great Hall. But first, they still had their classes. Hermione loved her classes, but they had flying with the Gryffindors and Hermione really didn't want Weasley and Potter ruining her day. Herbology went well, and Professor Sprout let them study Leaping Pumpkins since it was Halloween. In Transfiguration, Hermione earned two points for Slytherin when she answered two questions correctly, and they had hardly any homework! At 4:10, Hermione walked down to Flying Lessons with the rest of the Slytherins. Flying Lessons were easily Hermione's least favorite subject. It was impossible to learn out of a book, she was bad at them, and they had them with the Gryffindors. What was worse was that Potter and Weasley were really good at riding their brooms, and they always managed to insult her flying skills. Well, it was Halloween, and Hermione decided that she wasn't going to let them ruin it for her.

"Alright, class, please summon your broomsticks." Madam Hooch said, causing Hermione to groan. She yelled UP! at hers, but it refused to leap into her hand. Weasley and Potter were trying to disguise their laughing. Finally, she just picked hers up, but Madam Hooch saw. "Miss Granger, please summon your broomstick properly!"

"Up!" She said. "Up, up, up!" But the broomstick refused to cooperate. Now almost all of the class was watching her. "Up!" Hermione insisted. The broom did come up, but it missed her hand entirely and instead whacked her in the nose. Again. Except this time, it hurt more and the entire class was watching.

"Are you alright?" Tracey asked. Weasley pretended to be whacked in the head by a broomstick.

"I'm fine." Hermione said forcefully. Tracey, who looked slightly offended, backed off.

"Very well, Miss Granger, you may pick up your broomstick." Gratefully, Hermione stopped trying to summon it and picked it up off the ground. It only went worse from there.

They began to practice turns on their broomsticks, which Hermione was particularly horrible at. Even Longbottom managed not to hurt himself, but Hermione was distracted by the memory of Weasley miming being smacked by a broom, causing her to crash into one of the oak trees. She almost fell off her broomstick, but she managed to grab onto one of the branches. "Miss Granger!" Madam Hooch cried, running swiftly towards the tree. Hermione's arms hurt from holding on, but she forced herself to remain hanging from the branch. "You can let go!"

Hermione released her grasp on the oak branch and fell towards the ground. Madam Hooch had used a cushioning charm, but it still hurt when she hit the ground. "Miss Granger, are you alright?" Hermione nodded. Her arms ached, but she still didn't want to miss the Halloween feast and Weasley and Potter would be very happy if she had to go to the Hospital Wing.

The rest of class went quickly, even though Hermione really wanted to leave. Finally, Madam Hooch called "class dismissed" and the Slytherins walked back into the school. Unfortunately, the Gryffindors were also going back into the school.

"Hey, Granger!" Weasley called. "Didn't your dad teach you how to fly a broom?"

"Just leave me alone, Weasley. It's Halloween." Hermione said tiredly. She didn't want to argue now, she just wanted to go to her common room.

"But you slimy Slytherins never leave us alone!" Weasley said. "I'm surprised that you were able to hold onto that branch without slipping off from all that slime." It wasn't a good insult, even by Weasley's standards, but he had just insulted her family _and_ her house. Hermione wasn't going to stand for that.

"And I'm surprised that your parents could afford one! You and all your siblings probably share a Cleansweep 1 that you've passed down for a thousand years."

"We all have our own brooms and _you_ have none. Just accept the truth: you're hopeless at flying."

"And you're hopeless at everything." Hermione said truthfully. "You'll never live up to your brothers; you're mum just wanted a daughter, she'll be so disappointed when you end up doing nothing with your life. It must be hard not being wanted!"

Weasley launched himself forwards. Potter attempted to hold him back, but Weasley elbowed the smaller boy back and pointed his wand at Hermione, casting the only offensive spell that he knew – the bat bogey hex. Immediately the flapping things started to cover her face, causing all the people in the hallway to laugh uncontrollably. Distantly, Hermione heard Weasley saying "I don't know why anyone puts up with her – she's a complete know-it-all, and she just goes around insulting everyone she meets. She's a nightmare, honestly."

That did it. Something inside Hermione snapped. Tears came to her eyes as she ran through the hallway, heads turning at the disgusting bat-like shapes flying around her head. She hurried towards the bathroom instead of the hospital wing, slamming the door behind her and sobbing into her hands.

Luckily, Weasley's spell disappeared after some time, since he hadn't cast it well, but that couldn't erase the memories of the people who watched him cast the Bat Bogey Hex or the people who saw her running through the halls. Hermione knew that crying never helped, but she couldn't stop the tears. She couldn't do this anymore, she just couldn't. Weasley had _hexed_ her, and he probably would again. If someone saw her crying like this, it would just make her more of a target, so she would have to stay there and miss the Halloween feast.

Hermione didn't know how much time passed, but eventually someone entered the bathroom, speaking in a familiar voice. "Hermione?"

"T-Tracey, is that you?" Hermione asked, trying to stop crying.

"Yes. I heard that Weasley hexed you and that you had run here."

"Please go away. I – I don't want to talk to anyone." Hermione said quietly.

"Don't worry, I won't tell the others what happened unless you want. But we're going to make Weasley regret that he did that. Now, do you want to go to the feast?" Tracey said kindly. There was still something off about her, the way she was just so clueless. How was she in Slytherin? But she knew Hermione was crying anyway, so she would just have to trust Tracey.

"I can't go to the feast, I can't be seen like this." Hermione decided. "The hex went away, but it's clear I've been crying. When I stop, I'll go to the common room."

"Okay, I'll bring you some food, Hermione. Don't worry, everyone knows that he hexed you and the other Slytherins will make him pay."

"Thank you." Hermione said. Knowing that Tracey cared helped Hermione to calm down a bit, but she was still crying.

"Slytherins stick together." Hermione heard the door shut behind Tracey. Everything would be okay. The Slytherins would help her get back at Weasley, and the hex caused no actual damage. _But_ , a small voice in her head said, _you can't do it alone. You're so weak that you cry over a stupid hex and you need their help to beat a Weasley._

"No, I'm not weak!" Hermione whispered.

 _He was right, too, you know._ The voice continued. _You_ are _hopeless at flying, and they can barely stand you._ That's _why Daphne doesn't talk to you anymore. Your so-called friends only talk to you because you help them with their homework._

"It's not true." She protested. Hermione was arguing with herself, she must really be going insane.

 _You know it is. And all it takes to reduce you to a mess is a few insults and a stupid spell._ Hermione started crying again. Her friends only allied themselves with her because of her encyclopedic knowledge. They only cared about how she helped them with their grades, not about her. No one cared about her, even her father. _He only ever shows emotion when it's to his advantage, and he only pays attention to you because you're smart. If you hadn't had magic, or if you had been bad at everything, then he would completely ignore you. Even your own mother hates you. You're really a failure. A freak._ And Hermione sobbed into her arms, unable to stop, because everything the dark part of her mind had said was true. _No one cares about you. Your parents don't even love you. Even Tracey was just trying to get on your good side._

Hermione kept crying, and she probably would have stayed there the entire feast if she hadn't heard the strange noise. THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! What was that? THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! It sounded like giant footsteps, moving closer and closer to her location. Hermione opened the door of her stall, her hands shaking. And then – CRASH!

The door to the bathroom was gone, wood flying everywhere. Some of the wall was gone too, forming a giant gap. And in the remains of the doorway was a gigantic figure. Hermione screamed.

It was a horrible sight. The creature had dull gray skin, with a lumpy body and it looked rather like a giant boulder. It was about twelve feet tall, with short legs like thick stone pillars and flat, horny feet. Its tiny head was bald, and it smelled like a mixture of rotting flesh and garbage magnified a hundredfold. Its long arms dragged a gigantic wooden club behind it. From her books, Hermione knew that it was a troll. She screamed again, hoping that someone would hear her. "HELP!"

The troll saw her and stood up straight, raising its club. Hermione screamed again and took cover under one of the sinks. This proved to be a bad idea as the troll, looking rather bored, smashed through the line of sinks with one blow. Hermione covered her head, huddling against the wall. "HELP!" The troll swung again, just missing Hermione. At that point, Hermione was sure no help was coming. The troll grunted in annoyance and destroyed the entire line of stalls with its club. Desperately, Hermione tried to cast the Bat Bogey Hex, but it just bounced off of its skin. Hermione didn't have enough magical power to hit it, and she had no idea what to do. _No one's coming to save you. No one cares about where you are. And besides, they think you're in the common room._ "HELP!" She tried once more.

The troll seemed to decide to change tactics, and reached towards Hermione with a giant hand, trying to grab her. Hermione dodged out of the way, trying to cast every single spell she knew. She knew barely any offensive ones, because of that incompetent DADA teacher. "HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP!" Hermione couldn't do this much longer, she was out of breath from dodging the troll's club, and she had a stitch in her side. Her arms still hurt from hanging off the tree earlier. She was only a first year, she couldn't do this. She was going to die because of Weasley. The troll advanced on her, backing her up a wall. It grabbed towards her again. Hermione almost dodged, but it managed to pick her up by her arm. The troll raised its club, and there was no way Hermione could dodge now. This was the end. Hermione screamed, her eyes closed as the club came crashing towards her…

"HEY!" Someone shouted, and the club stopped inches from her. The troll dropped Hermione and she scrambled out of the way. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Hermione turned around, trying to see who had saved her, and she saw Tracey, shouting at the troll. It turned to face the noise and advanced towards Tracey, who looked completely frightened.

"On three!" Someone else shouted. Hermione couldn't see who. "One!" What were they going to do? They had to be mass casting a spell. "Two!" But would three people be enough? And which spell? "Three!" There was only one spell easy enough.

"Somnium!" It sounded like there were more than three people saying it. Hermione forced all of her power into the sleep spell, trying to get through the troll's thick skin. The troll swayed.

"Again!" Someone else shouted. "One, two, three!"

"Somnium!" The troll swayed again, but Hermione didn't have much strength left. Surely everyone felt the same. They had tried to save her, and now they would all die. The troll swiped at Hermione, sending her flying against a wall. She screamed as she hit the wall hard, sending a wave of pain through her back, but she stumbled to her feet. She had been sent flying. Flying! That was it! Hermione remembered Professor Flitwick standing on a pile of books and repeating it over and over. Swish and flick. Swish and flick. The troll grabbed Tracey and was prepared to punch her, its club lying on the floor, when Hermione yelled "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The troll's club rose into the air, causing the troll to immediately drop Tracey and look up at it. For a second it hovered over the monster's head before crashing down on its head. The troll's eyes rolled back into its head, and it fell to the ground with a giant crash.

"Is it – dead?" Hermione spoke first, trying not to cry.

"I think it's unconscious." Hermione turned around to see Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. So that had been how they managed to have an effect on it. "Are you alright, Tracey, Hermione?"

Hermione began to thank them when there was a sudden slamming and loud footsteps. A moment later, Professor McGonagall burst into the room. She was followed by Snape and Quirrell with Potter and Weasley trailing along behind them. Professor Snape bent over the troll and the students backed against the wall.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, her voice cold with fury. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" Hermione wasn't sure what to say. It was her fault that they had come here. "Are you injured?"

"It threw me against a wall, Professor, and I think Tracey might be hurt." Hermione said, stumbling forwards. The others had come to save her, so she had to say something even if it might get here in trouble. "It was my fault they came here; they were trying to save me. The troll would have killed me if they hadn't come."

"And why were you there in the first place, Miss Granger. Did you think you could face the troll? I would normally expect that sort of behavior from one of my Gryffindors, not from you of all people." Professor McGonagall looked down at Hermione, glaring. Professor Snape merely looked interested, and Professor Quirrell looked like he was about to faint. Didn't they see that she and Tracey were hurt? Hermione wasn't going to die from standing there, but if she had been more injured she could die because they were only interested with discipline.

"It was kind of our fault, Professor." Hermione was surprised to see Potter stepping forwards. "Hermione did badly in the flying lesson. We insulted her, and it got into an argument. Ron hexed her and she ran off crying. That's why she was here in the first place. She didn't know about the troll. We were just having an argument, we didn't mean to almost get her killed." Professor McGonagall's mouth hung open, and she seemed incapable of normal speech. She looked at each of the students: Weasley looked betrayed, but Potter looked actually sorry; Draco looked pleased with himself, and Blaise was glaring at Weasley. Crabbe, Goyle, and Tracey looked completely frightened, both of the troll and Professor McGonagall. And Hermione was crying.

"Well, Mr. Weasley that was very wrong of you. Five points from Gryffindor. Now, Mr. Zabini, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle, would you please escort Miss Davis and Miss Granger to the hospital wing?" Professor McGonagall said as soon as she could speak.

"Wait, one moment please. How did the six of you manage to defeat the troll?" Professor Snape asked.

"We first distracted it from Hermione, and then we used Somnium all together in order to get to it." Draco answered. "But it still wasn't enough. Hermione had the idea to levitate its club and hit it with that."

"Excellent thinking, all of you. Thirty points to Slytherin."

As they left to the hospital wing, Hermione thanked the others for saving her. She would have died; nothing seemed enough. "No problem." Blaise said quickly. "We're your friends. Slytherins stick together.

"Slytherins stick together!" they all repeated.

* * *

Hermione didn't have to stay in the hospital wing for long. Madam Pomfrey quickly healed her, and although she still felt rather sore she was allowed to return to the Slytherin common room. "Hermione, are you okay?" Pansy asked. "We didn't know where the others had gone, they just disappeared and after we reach our common room Professor Snape shows up and says you fought a troll!"

"I'm fine." Hermione said. "They saved me, I would have died if not for them."

"All because of that idiot Weasley." Draco said. Then he smiled. "We'll think of a plan to get payback, Hermione. If all of first year Slytherin works on it, we're guaranteed to succeed.

"You're not going to hurt him, right? I mean, he's only a first year."

"Hermione, of course we're going to hurt him. He hurt you. Because of him, you almost died!" Draco said. Pansy and Nott nodded, which was expected, but _Tracey_ was nodding too. Tracey wanted to hurt someone, and that was completely un-Tracey. Tracey Davis was practically a Hufflepuff!

"Potter admitted to the teachers what they did!" Hermione protested. "You're just going to hex them, right? Right?"

"I said we're going to make them pay. Hurt them at least as much as they hurt you. We'll do something harmless to Potter since he never hexed you and it was Weasley that did it all. But Weasley is going to get what he deserves." Hermione stared at Draco, Tracey, Pansy and Nott, and at the others too. All of them supported the plan. How could they be so violent? They were eleven; they shouldn't be plotting ways to injure someone.

"But hurting them won't change anything." Hermione tried.

"It will make you feel better if he's hurt. The teachers aren't going to do anything, so we will." Draco said, as if it made perfect sense. _It will make you feel better if he's hurt_. Draco had said. The troubling thing was, he might be right. But Hermione was certain that was just Wrong, that she shouldn't do this. She could tell that the other Slytherins were acting somewhat evil and she really should not go along with this. But they ignored any attempts of hers to stop them, so she nodded and sat down as they planned what to do about Weasley. Some of their ideas were good, harmless pranks that would only humiliate him. But when Theodore Nott suggested that they learn the Cutting Curse, lock him in a classroom, and use it on him, Hermione was so horrified that she couldn't listen anymore. That was not something that they should be thinking about.

"Are you tired?" Blaise asked, noticing that Hermione was trying not to listen. Hermione nodded. "You should go up to the dormitories then. We'll keep trying to think of ideas." Nott and Pansy looked up, having just decided that the Cutting Curse was too difficult to learn first year.

Hermione fell asleep early that night, completely exhausted from the day. Nott, she decided, was the worst of them, since he had come up with the Cutting Curse idea. Next were Draco and Pansy. She didn't know about Tracey, that girl was so confusing. But one thing was for sure – she would try to stop the others from hurting anyone, but she would not stop being their friend. They might be a bit – well, strange seemed an understatement – but they had saved her life. They cared about her enough to face a troll, and Hermione had never met anyone who cared that much.

"Slytherins stick together." Hermione whispered into the darkness.


	9. Revenge is Sweet

**AN: I apologize sincerely for the delay. I have a lot of excuses, but you don't want to hear them. I have no idea what happened with the extra chapter, but I took it down and I assure you it was an accident. Also, I realized that the only ones harmed by the troll were the girls. Hermione was hurt since she fought it the longest, and Tracey volunteered to distract the troll. The Slytherins acted bravely because they had a plan and Hermione was their friend. The reason less girls came was because I decided on a case by case basis and there's no way that Millicent, Pansy, or Daphne would attack a troll. And as for the low point loss from Ron Weasley, at some point in the books** **Snape** **takes 10 points from Harry for fighting, and this is Snape we're talking about. There's a lot of scene jumping in this one. I know this is a long Author's Note, so I'm also sorry for that. Now onto the actual story!**

Hermione officially hated plotting. It was exhausting, for one, especially considering that the Slytherins had woken up at 6:00 to work on their plots. Secondly, Hermione constantly had to worry about Nott, Draco, and Millie's ideas, which were all dangerous and mostly illegal. Between coming up with ideas and shutting down those that involved seriously harming Weasley or hurting innocent bystanders, Hermione was trying the best she could not to scream.

"What if we charmed his hair green?" Goyle suggested. This was immediately dismissed by Nott as childish.

"I still don't see why we can't just put something in the pig's food!" Millie said, shaking her head.

"Like I said, Millie, we couldn't isolate his food from that of the Gryffindors."

"We could poison all of them…" Pansy said hopefully.

"First of all, no poison. Nothing illegal. Second of all, we're not hurting all them because of something one of them did!" Hermione told the group. "What would be painful, but not dangerous?"

"The Tooth-Growing potion, when taken in excess amounts, may cause lengthening of the teeth in extremes. While easily fixable by a trained healer, the effects would be incredibly painful." Daphne said, putting down her book for the first time.

"Great!" Finally, an actual idea!

"Alright…how are we going to do that?"

"Well, we've got to brew the potion, obviously." Pansy said.

"How long will it take?" Hermione asked Daphne.

"Well, a few hours would probably be enough, but we've got to get ingredients." Daphne said.

"Ok. Draco, Professor Snape will give you anything you ask for, so you can get ingredients off him." Hermione reasoned. "Then Daphne and I can brew the potion, since we've got the highest grades in potions class." Then she paused. "Ugh. I forgot we can't slip anything into the food!"

"Right." Crabbe said, looking disappointed.

"Back to the beginning." Pansy sighed.

"Everything has been charms or potions so far. What about...Transfiguration?" Hermione suggested.

"I hear Weasley hates spiders." Draco grinned evilly.

"Late, Potter and Weasley." Professor Snape frowned, talking incredibly slowly. "5 points from Gryffindor."

"We –"

"Each." He finished.

"That's ridiculous! Peeves –"

"Five more points. Find your seats, or it will become fifty very quickly." Potter and Weasley sat down, grumbling.

"Today, we will begin the Swelling Solution." Snape announced. "Instructions are written on the board. Follow them." Then he swept back to his desk where he began grading essays.

"I'll get the ingredients?" Asked Hermione. Daphne only nodded, causing Hermione to worry if she had done something wrong. Daphne seemed a lot more distant lately. She recalled the conversation that she had had with Pansy earlier.

 _"_ _What's up with her?" Pansy had asked. Hermione knew it was not a good sign that Pansy noticed it too._

 _"_ _Maybe…maybe she just didn't want to associate with half-bloods anymore?"_

 _"_ _No." Hermione said. That wasn't it. That couldn't be it, right? "She – she seemed ok with it on the train ride. And she didn't tell us she wanted to terminate our alliance."_

 _"_ _But we are half-bloods. That's the only reason." Pansy said quietly._

 _"_ _But – I'm a half-blood and half of our year's Slytherins came to rescue me from the troll!" Hermione protested._

 _"_ _I told you already, I wasn't informed of the plan! The kids who were walking together decided to go after you. But I was with Daphne and Theo, not then." Pansy said defensively._

 _Hermione smiled. "And I told you that I know. I believe you, and there was nothing you could do! It's fine. Really. But the point is, it must not be that bit of a deal because they came to help me just because I was in their House. Even though I wasn't a pureblood."_

 _Pansy shook her head. "Why do you think they helped you? Because they cared?" Pansy snorted derisively. "We're in Slytherin, not Hufflepuff! They came because you were useful. You're the smartest person in our year, and that would certainly help them with their plans. They're nearly too stupid to breathe!"_

 _"_ _So you're saying that Daphne decided she didn't need help to pass her classes and take care of rumors." Hermione said. By now, it was a well-known fact that Pansy Parkinson had almost complete control over the spread of rumors in the first year._

 _"_ _Yep."_

 _"_ _No. Daphne seemed nice."_

 _"_ _Seemed." Commented Pansy._

 _"_ _If there's anything I've learned since the beginning of the school year, is that_ nothing _is what it seems."_

 _"_ _Daphne might just be having a tough time with her school work, or something. Let me talk to her."_

Quickly, Hermione got the ingredients and set to work. Finally, it reached a period of time where the cauldron simply had to sit for twenty minutes. "Daphne?" She asked. Once again, the girl was staring off into the distance.

"Yes?" She asked.

"We're still friends, right?" Hermione asked cautiously. "I mean, allies, at least?"

"Yes." Daphne said, seeming concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"No. It's just, well, you seemed a bit distant lately. Pansy and I were worried about you." Hermione responded.

"I wasn't trying too." Daphne said quickly. "I just miss my sister. Astoria. She's younger than me, so she can't go to Hogwarts yet." She paused, as if she wasn't sure whether to speak or not. Finally, she sighed and decided to tell Hermione. "Astoria is always sick, and I got a letter from my parents saying she got worse again. The thing is – her medicine is really expensive and even then it sometimes doesn't work. I've been worried, and my grades are suffering."

There was something Daphne wasn't saying, but Hermione didn't have a clue what it was. Her…friend…had just told her something important and she didn't want to be mean and press her further. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. "I don't know what to do about your sister, but I can help you study if you want." She couldn't help with anything that actually mattered – just grades. _I'm a horrible friend._ Hermione thought. _But at least I'm trying._

"It's fine." Daphne said. "I'm sorry that I've been ignoring you guys. I just didn't want to deal with friends."

"I know how you feel." Hermione said. "Sometimes social interactions can be so annoying." That got a smile.

"We'd better start with the water and stirring."

It was lunchtime, and this was going to be amazing. Despite Theodore, Draco, and Pansy's protests, Blaise had managed to find a type of spider that was large but perfectly harmless. For the first part of the plan, Weasley and Potter had to be distracted. That was easy enough – Pansy and Draco went over to their table to bother and taunt them for a few minutes. Meanwhile, Blaise would be standing right there to open Weasley's book bag just a little and move his quills to the surface.

It turned out that Weasley's book bag was already open, due to him being lazy. And the quills were already right on top. Blaise signaled Hermione over, because she was the only one good enough at Transfiguration for it to work.

"What are you doing here, Granger?" Weasley asked turning around to face her.

"I'm simply supporting my friends. You shouldn't bother them." Hermione said sweetly. She had better retorts, but most of her concentration had to go to the difficult Transfiguration. "It's mean."

"Me?" Weasley asked, his face red. "I'm bothering –"

"Ron." Potter said quietly. "Remember what we talked about."

"And what were you talking about, Weasel?" Draco asked.

"Nothing." Weasley said.

"Please leave us alone." Potter said calmly. "This is the Gryffindor table."

"And you forfeited all rights to be left alone when you attacked one of us." Pansy told him.

"Just leave us alone!" Weasley said, slamming his hand on the table. Around them, several people jumped.

"Whatever." Hermione said, giving Pansy a quick nod. "They aren't worth our time." Quickly, the Slytherins sped back to their table.

Hermione was starting to worry that it hadn't worked. After all, it was a very difficult Transfiguration, at least a beginning Second Year one. In fact, they would be incredibly lucky if this worked. If it didn't, though, she knew what Theodore would suggest. He would want to find some spiders and enlarge them, regardless of whether they were harmful or not.

Just then, there was a shriek from the Gryffindor table. Weasley was standing in the center of the Great Hall, his face as white as death. On him were three spiders – and one was on his face. There was another high pitched shriek, and everyone who hadn't turned around to look did. The entirety of Slytherin table, half of Ravenclaw, and a third of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were laughing. The rest looked mildly concerned, but for some reason no one was trying to help him.

"Ahgggg! Spiders! HELP! Get them off me!" Hermione wasn't sure whether to laugh or to be upset. Not because she had gotten her revenge – he deserved what he was getting – but because it felt good. It felt _good_ to watch him scream about the harmless spiders. He was doing some sort of dance in the center of the great hall to try to shake off the spiders, and not only was it funny but it gave Hermione this good feeling inside. She liked watching him be punished. And for some reason she felt like that was wrong.

"HELP ME!" He screamed. "Spi – ACK!" One had tried to crawl inside his mouth, now, and most of the students looked concerned now. At least, most of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The Ravenclaws were trying to read, and the Slytherins were still laughing as ever. So Hermione looked at her friends, and she gave into the good feeling and she was laughing too. It felt great – she had gotten her revenge. Weasley was suffering for his mistakes. He _deserved_ this. Hermione smiled. She had the perfect idea. Maybe it was going a bit far, but she had thought of another perfect second year spell that wasn't in their plans.

" _Engorgio!_ " She whispered, aiming her wand at a spider. It swelled to twice its size. Hermione felt a noticeable drop in her magic, but that was fine – she didn't have any more classes today.

She enlarged the other two spiders, and smirked as Weasley yelled for someone to get the spiders off of him. _They're harmless_ , she reminded the little voice inside of her that was telling her that she was being mean and that this was just so utterly wrong that she should never ever be enjoying it. Actually, it was a very vocal part of her. But it was small and she easily overpowered it. _Besides, it really is funny._ Hermione called into mind the warning with the charm in the second year textbook. She knew just how to end her prank. Using her last remaining strength that she could without collapsing, Hermione cast three more _Engorgio_ charms to push their size right over the edge. And one by one, the spiders exploded. One by one, Weasley got covered in even more and more spider guts. Hermione wondered what he would say when they transfigured back into pieces of his quills.

"Was that last edition you?" Draco asked, still laughing.

"Yep." Hermione said.

"That was really advanced spell work!" Commented Tracey.

"Thanks." Hermione smiled shyly.

"That was _awesome_!" A second year Slytherin said.

"Thank you." Hermione felt like taking a bow.

That had felt _good_.


	10. Quidditch and a Wizards' Duel

**This chapter took me forever, and I'm not certain I really want to continue with this Fanfiction. I have some idea where I'm going, but not a lot. So this Fanfiction is unofficially on hiatus, which for me basically means it'll take 2 or so months for the next chapter. I might start another Fanfiction, though. Looking back on some of my authors notes, they seem rather childish, but I don't have the time and energy to go back and fix them.**

 **Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Hermione would be even** _ **more**_ **awesome.**

In the weeks following the spider prank, Hermione's popularity had greatly increased within Slytherin. However, outside of Slytherin, things weren't going so well. The Gryffindors were the worst, of course, but the Hufflepuffs were pretty bad and the Ravenclaws resented Hermione for her intelligence. _At least,_ Hermione thought after a particularly nasty prank involving a nose-biting teacup, _I'm not on the Quidditch team._ The Gryffindor-Slytherin match was approaching, and the rivalry was worse than ever. Flint almost had his arm broken, although admittedly he had started that fight. And although she would _never_ admit it, Hermione had found it hilarious when she had watched Johnson (a Gryffindor Chaser) hex him in the face.

"Hey, Granger!" Hermione whirled around, drawing her wand. Behind her stood a tall boy with red hair, grinning. _One of the Weasley twins. No doubt trying to get revenge for their brother,_ she thought, immediately taking off down the corridor.

"Watch it!" A girl shouted at Hermione as she shoved her way through the crowd. She didn't turn back. Hermione ran up a staircase, right as it was moving. A dangerous stunt, but her magic would protect her if she fell. And she almost did. Just in time, however, she managed to grab onto the side of the staircase and pull herself to her feet. She was actually pretty lucky she ran into the twins – she needed this staircase to get to Transfiguration on time, and she had nearly missed it even when she was in a hurry. Hermione laughed at the Weasley twin waiting below, but instead of seeming annoyed, he just grinned.

 _Oh, right._ Hermione though as she turned around slowly. _There's two of them_.

The other Weasley twin was waiting behind her on the moving staircase. "George and I wanted to say congratulations on pranking our brother." He said, surprising Hermione. She would have expected some sort of prank. She still did.

"Er, thanks. Now kindly _get out of my way_." She said, still remembering what they did to poor Archimedes.

"That was truly amazing." Weasley Twin 1 continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Ronnikins _hates_ spiders. The point is, we could use your help with our pranks. So Fred and I propose a temporary pranking truce and alliance."

"No thank you." Hermione said, trying to push past him and succeeding. The trouble was, the other one had managed to get in front of her. Now Hermione was trapped between the two grinning twins.

"At least a truce? We can't promise you immunity, we prank the Snakes with AoE spells far too often, but we won't target you if you don't target us." Weasley Twin 2 said.

"You tried to poison my owl." Hermione pointed out.

"Well, not _poison_."

"Caffeinate, yes."

"But poison?"

"Most certainly not." Weasley Twin 2 finished. Or maybe it was Twin 1.

"Fine, then, caffeinate my owl. Either way, you kidnapped poor Archimedes and he nearly ended up in the hospital wing!" Hermione said.

"Well, then, I do suppose we'll have to make up for that." Twin 1 said.

"We'd tell you Ronnikins's weakness, but you already know it." Twin 2 said.

"But we can tell you –"

"That he's most definitely plotting something –"

"Quite Slytherin-like if you ask me –"

"Along with wee Potter."

"And we _can_ tell you –"

"How Fred managed to get here."

"Information on the secret passageways of Hogwarts –"

"Is very useful."

"And then we'll be even."

"And can make an alliance."

"How do I know that you wouldn't stab me in the back?" Hermione asked. "After what you did to my owl, I don't trust you. Who knows? If I come with you to see the passageway, you could trap me there."

"Think about it this way, Granger."

"We kind of did trap you."

"Of course, we'd let you past if you wanted."

"But the point is still the same."

"If we'd wanted to prank you."

"We already would have." The sad thing was, they probably thought that this was perfectly good proof.

"There are a lot of people here. No one in the secret passageway." Hermione said suspiciously. "You might just not want to get caught."

"Honestly, Granger –"

"Do you think we worry about getting in trouble?" One of them finished. Hermione had lost track by this point.

"Fine. If you actually want a truce, give me a map. I'm not exploring secret passageways with you two." She said. "And then _maybe_ I'll _consider_ an alliance. Deal?"

"Map of the secret passageway Fred just used for a pranking truce, not counting Area of Effect pranks. Deal." The twin that Hermione assumed with George (he could be Fred referring to himself in the 3rd person, you never knew) smiled again and stuck out his hand, which Hermione shook.

"You drive a hard bargain, Granger." The other twin said. Hermione didn't think there was much bargaining involved, but she'd be lucky to get to class on time at this point. Hermione raced up the now-stationary staircase, past Fred who had moved aside and all the way to Transfiguration. Collapsing into a seat next to Pansy and a Hufflepuff girl that Hermione was pretty sure was Hannah Abbott, she noticed that two Hufflepuff girls were whispering and pointing her way. Never a good sign, but Hermione couldn't really bring herself to care.

* * *

It was the day of the Quidditch match, and everyone who wasn't stuck in the Hospital Wing or Detention came out to the stadium for the match. Even Hermione, who hated Quidditch, wore her green and silver scarf and sat in the stands next to Pansy and Daphne. She had tried to convince her Ravenclaw friend, Padma, to come sit with her, but Padma had decided to support her twin sister's house. The weather was cold and crisp, reminding Hermione of wonderful days spent outside reading with a mug of hot chocolate. She'd much rather be doing that than watching a sporting event, but Pansy and Millie had dragged Hermione and Daphne out of the Great Hall.

"I can't wait to see Potter humiliate himself!" Draco said, looking down onto the field where the Gryffindors were walking in with their broomsticks in hand. He sneered when he saw the large banner floating above the Gryffindor side of the stands with boring gold writing proclaiming _Potter for President._

"Could do with a good color-flashing charm, couldn't it." Hermione said quietly to Daphne, trying to get her to laugh. Daphne didn't seem interested.

"I suppose." She said simply.

"Mount your brooms, please." Madam Hooch instructed the players, before giving her silver whistle a loud blast. Fifteen broomsticks rose high into the air, and Madam Hooch propelled the Quaffle up into the air. It was immediately taken by Johnson, the Gryffindor Chaser who Hermione remembered as the one who had hexed Flint and nearly broken his arm.

"And they're off!" Lee Jordan, the 3rd year Gryffindor commentator, was saying. "Gryffindor Chaser Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle – what an excellent Chaser she is, and a good dueler from what I've heard from rumors. Rather attractive too…"

"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall interrupted.

"Sorry, Professor. She passes it to Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's – oh, no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle!"

The Slytherins cheered as Flint stole the Quaffle and raced down towards the other end of the field. Hermione joined in – perhaps this could be kind of fun as long as she wasn't forced to go up into the air.

The game went on and on, until the two Seekers appeared to have spotted the Snitch. The game seemed to pause as Potter and Higgs zoomed towards the tiny golden ball, and Hermione found herself cheering for Higgs along with the rest of her friends. Potter was faster, though. He gained speed, and reached out towards the Snitch –

WHAM! The Slytherins cheered as Flint blocked Potter and sent Potter spinning, hands clenched onto his broomstick barely keeping him from plummeting. Hermione was pretty sure she could hear Draco and Pansy sigh disappointedly when he managed to clamber back onto the proper position on his broomstick and continue to search for the Snitch.

"Alright," Jordan was saying. "Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet…" Spinnet easily scored, causing the Slytherin stands to boo, and play continued. Slytherin gained possession of the Quaffle. Bell, however, swooped in and intercepted a Slytherin pass. She scored, and the Slytherin Keeper passed it to a Slytherin Chaser, who nearly scored on Wood. Wood passed the Quaffle to Bell, who tried to score, but was blocked by Higgs in a foul. Gryffindor didn't manage to score on the penalty shot, so play continued. Slytherin was losing 0-20.

"And Potter nearly gets hit by a Bludger, too bad it didn't hit Higgs either." Jordan announced over the roar of the crowd. "Meanwhile, Johnson attempts to score, fails, Slytherin has possession, passes to Pucey, who's hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor."

"Well, I don't want any more jokes." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Of course, sorry, Bell steals the Quaffle, passes it to Spinnet, pass intercepted by Flint, who's streaking down the field, Slytherins score, oh, no!" The Slytherins erupted in cheers for their first points, but Hermione was pretty sure she saw something strange up in the sky.

"Hey, Draco? Can you pass me your Omnioculars for a minute?" Hermione asked.

"Fine, but only for a minute. They're a present from Father – if you break them, you're buying me new ones." He warned.

"Sure." Hermione said, taking the device and looking through it towards the small figure in the sky that looked vaguely like Potter. Sure enough, his broom was jerking, rising higher and higher in the sky. Kind of like what Longbottom's had done, but different. Longbottom's broom was out of control. Potters was not. The only problem was, Potter wasn't the one who was in control. _Something's jinxing his broom. But it can't be Flint – you have to keep eye contact, and Flint's happily flying around._

"Hermione, can I have my Omnioculars back?" Draco asked at the worst time possible.

"Someone's jinxing Potter's broom." Hermione said, scanning the stands as fast as she could. The Omnioculars fell upon the Teachers' Box, where she could see two vague forms standing straight up and looking at Potter.

"Brilliant!" Draco said impatiently. "I want to see!"

Hermione zoomed in on the Teacher's Box, trying to see who those two adults were, focusing the lenses...

"They're mine!" Draco said, grabbing the Omnioculars out of Hermione's hand. " _I_ want to see." Hermione groaned. Now she had no hope of finding out what was going on. Suddenly, Potter's broom started to roll over and over, nearly throwing him off. Then the entire crowd gasped. Potter's broom had jerked wildly and he was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand. "I hope he dies!" Draco shouted over the noise. "It would serve him right!" The whole crowd had risen to their feet.

"I think I know how to stop it!" Hermione whispered.

"Why would you want to stop the broomstick?" Pansy asked. "Whoever's jinxing it is doing us a favor."

"He'd owe you if you made the broomstick stop." Hermione suggested. Her eyes were glued on Potter's broomstick as it vibrated fiercely, nearly shaking the boy off. Hermione found him annoying, but this was going too far. He could _die_.

"Ha!" Pansy said. "This is better!"

"But somebody could _die_!" Hermione said, desperately searching her book bag for the pair of binoculars she had brought from home. They were a Muggle item, so she'd only ever use them in case of emergencies.

"He's a blood traitor!" Draco shouted over the chaos as one of the Weasley twins attempted to rescue Potter. "He deserves to die!" Potter's broom jerked higher, out of the way, nearly causing Potter to fall. Meanwhile, Flint was scoring furiously below, since no one had stopped the game. Wood was trying his best to stop Flint, but he couldn't block all of the shots.

"What, do you _like_ him, Granger?" Pansy teased.

"Shut up!" Hermione said, seizing her binoculars out of her bag.

"What are you doing with a Muggle contraption?" Draco sneered. Hermione ignored him, instead focusing them in on the Teachers' Box. There, Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell were intently watching Potter and mumbling under their breath. At this point, Hermione really, really wished she knew some curse words. _Of course._ _ **That's**_ _why Potter isn't dead yet. Quirrell is muttering the counter jinx!_ What could Hermione do? To go against her Head of House would be idiotic at best, and suicide at worst. But Professor Snape was trying to kill Potter! And what could Hermione do?

"What are you _doing_ , Hermione?" Daphne shouted as Hermione began moving towards the Teachers' Box. _She's right. What_ _ **am**_ _I doing? Acting like a Gryffindor idiot._ Hermione took a deep breath, and shoved her binoculars away in her pockets.

"I've figured out who's doing it!" She shouted. "If we save him, he'll owe us a life debt! We can –"

"Why would you want to save Potter?" Draco asked.

"Because then he'll owe us!" Millie said, grinning.

"No way!" Pansy yelled.

"And who made you in charge?" Tracey asked defiantly. "I like the idea of Potter owing me a life debt!"

"WE DON'T SAVE FILTHY BLOOD TRAITORS!" Draco screamed at the top of his lungs.

"WE'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE OPORTUNITIES!" Tracey screamed back.

"And I'm supposed to take orders from a Halfblood now?" Draco yelled, his pale face turning red with anger.

" **WE CAN –"**

" **I'M NOT GOING TO –"**

" **STOP RUINING –"**

" **NOT IN CHARGE –"**

"Calm **down**!"

" **Don't tell me what to do, Granger!"**

" **Yeah, Granger!"**

"Just stop **arguing**!"

" **It's our –"**

At that moment, the crowd went silent. Potter's broomstick had jerked up, and he had lost his grip. Instead of wood, Potter's fingers found thin air as he plummeted down through the pitch. The Gryffidors screamed as he fell through the sky. The Teachers' Box all pointed their wands out at him, slightly slowing his fall. It wasn't enough. Potter would still die.

"WANDS OUT, GRYFFINDOR!" Percy Weasley shouted. Immediately, Gryffindor and all the Gryffindor supporters pointed their wands at Potter, significantly slowing his fall. Quite a few of the Slytherin supporters also pointed out their wands. But it wasn't enough. Potter hit the ground with a sickening THUD!

Several students screamed as Madam Hooch ran out onto the field to perform First Aide. "He's alive!" She shouted, leading to a cheer throughout the audience. Professor McGonagall helped Hooch carry him off the field on a conjured stretcher. Several students left the field at that point, following the two teachers into the castle, Hermione and her friends included. Slytherin drew out the game until they were 80 points ahead before Higgs grabbed the Snitch. Slytherin won the game 290 points to 40. Unfortunately, Hermione was pretty sure that if life was a game, she had just lost.

* * *

"Fine." Hermione said, sitting down on the floor in the common room next to Millie and Tracey. Pansy and Draco (along with Crabbe and Goyle) sat across from them, and Daphne sat facing both pairs of students.

"So," Daphne smiled, "that was quite an argument." No one said anything. "Why don't we all –"

"Why don't we all sit around and tell our stories? Because it's ridiculous, that's what!" Draco said. Everyone else except Tracey and Daphne nodded.

"Look – you're already agreeing again!" Daphne said happily.

"I'm not doing this." Millie said, standing up.

"Yes you are. If we don't sort this out among ourselves, we have to call Professor Snape. And we'll end up with Detention if we do." Daphne explained. "So, it seems that this is what happened: Hermione noticed that Potter was falling off of his broomstick. Despite claiming to hate Potter –"

"I actually do hate him." Hermione interrupted. "I just don't think it's good for the school if he dies."

"Very well." Daphne said, rolling her eyes. "Despite hating Potter, Hermione attempted to think of a way to make sure he didn't die. Using Draco's Omnioculars –"

"Which she stole."

"Which you _kindly_ let her borrow when she asked." Daphne said pointedly. "Using Draco's Omnioculars, she spotted two blurry figures in the stands maintaining eye contact with Potter's broomstick. Hermione was attempting to zoom in, when Draco asked for them back. Intent on her work, Hermione continued to focus the lenses. Draco grabbed them back before Hermione could properly see the two teachers. Hermione then angrily began to search through her bag, pulling out a pair of Muggle briny-oquares."

"Binoculars." Hermione corrected. She hated it when people were wrong.

"Binculars."

"Binoculars." Tracey said, enunciating each syllable.

"Fine, then, binoculars. Same thing. She pulled out a pair of Muggle binoculars and used them to focus in on the stands, where she saw both Professor Snape _and_ Professor Quirrell muttering and staring at Potter's broomstick. Hermione started to move towards the Teachers' Box, not quite sure what she was doing. I asked her where she was going, and she replied that if we could save Potter he would owe us a life debt. At this point, there was a lot of shouting, and no one's quite sure what exactly happened. Draco and Pansy didn't want to save Potter because he's a Gryffindor and a blood traitor. Tracey, Hermione, and Millie's argument was that Slytherins should be cunning and take the wonderful opportunity to have the Boy-Who-Lived owe us a life debt. Is this correct?" Everyone nodded.

"Regardless of who was correct, we broke one of the most important rules in Slytherin. And at this point, it doesn't really matter who was correct." Daphne said. "Slytherins stick together. We had a disagreement about whether or not to help Potter. Potter was not saved. Potter will still be alive, but no life debt was owed. Was this the best solution? Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't really matter at this point, and another situation like this will be unlikely. So, Slytherin?"

"Slytherin." Everyone repeated.

"Hermione." Pansy said, running up to Hermione after the conversation. "Why'd you do that?"

"Well…" Hermione said slowly. She didn't want Pansy to stop being her friend. "I thought that if I helped him, he'd owe me and he would make Weasley stop being mean." She said, sounding as small as she could.

"Weasley's still bothering you?" Pansy asked.

"Yeah. Him and all the other Gryffindors. I thought that they might stop if Potter told them to." Hermione explained.

"Sorry." Pansy said quickly, as if it pained her greatly to say so. "I overreacted, and I can see your reasoning. I don't agree, mind you, but I can understand."

"Thanks." Hermione said, sighing in relief. She still had friends.

* * *

The next day, Weasley came up to Hermione in the Great Hall at breakfast. "I know it was you." He said fiercely. "You and Malfoy. I'll make you pay for it."

"Me…what was me?" Hermione asked, confused. And then it dawned on her. Weasley thought that Hermione and Draco were responsible for the jinx on Potter's broomstick. And he had no clue how wrong he was.

"You thought you could kill Harry and get him out of the way for Snape. I know what you're planning – you're gonna help Snape steal it! And Harry and I won't let it happen." Weasley growled.

"I promise you, I didn't jinx Potter's broomstick." Hermione said. Of course, he thought they were doing it for Professor Snape. He was kind of right that Professor Snape wanted Harry dead – he had been the one jinxing the broomstick, though. Hermione hadn't been involved. "Wait a second, steal what?"

"Who said anything about a broomstick?" Weasley grinned, ignoring her second question.

"Er, it was fairly obvious that you were talking about what happened at the Quidditch match." Hermione said. "Don't try to be smart, it only makes you look even more stupid." Pansy and Daphne snickered.

"Yeah, well –" Weasley paused to think for a moment. "Wizards duel, 12 noon, classroom 5Q8910B. You or Malfoy, I don't care which."

"You sure you can handle missing lunch, Weasley?" Hermione asked, laughing at the way his face turned bright red.

"Who's your second, Weasley?" Draco asked. Weasley turned around in a circle.

"Oy, Seamus! Over here!" A sandy haired Gryffindor boy walked over to the table. "He's my second. One of you had better show up."

"And why's that?" Pansy asked.

Weasley frowned in concentration, as if he was trying to think. (Trying was the key word, since Hermione didn't believe it possible that Weasley could actually think). "Er, I'm making it officer."

"Official?" Pansy asked, laughing.

"Yeah, that. I'm making it official. You'll bring dishonor to your family if you refuse – not that a slimy snake has any in the first place!" Weasley said running back to his own table with Seamus.

* * *

It was decided that Hermione would do the dueling, since she knew more spells. The Slytherin first years had voted on it and Hermione had gotten a surprising amount of support. At 11:52, the Slytherin first years left lunch and walked down to the empty classroom. Weasley wasn't there yet, but Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Parvati Patil were there already. So was Mandy Brocklehurst, a Ravenclaw first year who would be refereeing. At precisely 12:00, Weasley ran in, looking flustered.

"I thought you were waiting for me, Dean!" He said, out of breath.

"I thought you were already here!" Thomas said.

"But –"

"As amusing as this is," Draco said, "I do want to get to the part where Hermione humiliates you, so would you two kindly shut up?" Pansy laughed at that, before realizing that no one else was laughing. This was serious.

"Take your places." Mandy said, drawing two lines on the floor. "The duel shall continue until one duelist is unable to fight or until one of you surrenders."

"What about our seconds?" Weasley asked, still huffing and puffing. "When do they take over?"

"Seconds are supposed to attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully." Mandy said. Upon Weasley's confused look, she added, "Seconds don't fight."

"Seriously?" Weasley asked going bright red.

"I think so." Patil told him. "You didn't know?"

"Of course I did, just making sure." He lied unconvincingly.

"Please turn around and take ten steps fowards. Turn back around to face the center. Raise your wands." Mandy instructed. "3."

"Scared?" Hermione taunted.

"Never." Weasley replied.

"2." Hermione narrowed her eyes and tried to go over the plan in her head.

"1." Weasley smirked.

"Begin!" Mandy yelled. Immediately, Weasley shot red sparks out of his wand. Hermione dodged them, unsure if they could actually do any damage, and shot out a Leg-Locker Curse. Weasley dodged that, so Hermione sent another one as he nearly hit her with a Stickfast Hex.

" _Locomoter Mortis!_ " Hermione shouted, causing Weasley's legs to lock in place. He nearly fell, but managed to balance himself.

" _Rictusempra!_ " Weasley cried. Hermione was overcome with laughter from the Tickling Charm while Weasley undid her Leg-Locker Curse. Hermione also managed to find the counter spell just in time to dive out of the way of Weasley's second Tickling Charm.

" _Tarantallegra! Tarantallegra! Tarantallegra!_ " Hermione shot the spells out as fast as she could. Weasley was a good dodger, and he managed to somehow hit her with a Fumbling Hex just as she got him with one of the rapid-fire spells. She dropped her wand and picked it back up, trying to remember a disabling curse, hex, or jinx. If she cast the Leg-Locker Curse it would allow Weasley to attack. Finally, she remembered one. " _Petrificus Totalus!_ " She cried. Weasley suddenly became as stiff as a board and fell over.

"And Hermione Granger is the winner!" Mandy said. The Slytherins cheered. Hermione cast the counter spell, and her and the Slytherins turned to leave. Suddenly, something hit her hard in the shoulder. Weasley tackled her to the ground. Hermione gasped in pain and surprise, and she could hear the other Slytherins shouting in outrage. He hit her with some sort of jinx, and she felt her tongue turning into some sort of hard, conical object. _The horn tongue hex._ Hermione realized through the pain.

"Ith huths!" Hermione choked out, wincing. The Slytherins pulled out their wands on Weasley, the Gryffindors pulled out their wands on the Slytherins, and Mandy stood there, wide-eyed, looking absolutely confused.

It was about to develop into a fight, when someone stepped into the room – Professor McGonagall. _What?_

"The Headmaster said that the alarm he had set on this room went off. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Daphne said a little too quickly. Dueling was strictly against school rules, and they would be in a lot of trouble for this if they were found out.

"Is this true, Mr. Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes." Weasley said, his face turning bright red.

"Miss Granger." Hermione made sure her mouth was closed, ignoring the pain, and nodded.

"Very well. You shouldn't be here, though." Professor McGonagall said. "It was supposed to be off-limits, but the Headmaster said that would just attract more attention." She sighed. "You should be on your way. Does everyone understand?" They nodded, and she left, with the Gryffindors trailing along behind her. Immediately, Daphne cast the counter-curse and the Slytherins began to leave.

"We'll get back at him. Don't worry." Pansy promised. "I can't believe he resorted to physical violence – and after he lost too! That…that…." She seemed at a loss for a word that could accurately describe Weasley. Hermione was too.

"I wonder why this room is off limits?" Hermione asked, savoring the use of her newly restored tongue.

"I dunno." Millie said. "Teachers are weird." As the Slytherins left the room, a mirror pushed against the side wall so that the glass was mostly hidden caught Hermione's eye. For a second, she could have sworn that she could see herself holding something, except that person was definitely not her. She had the same color hair and the same eyes and face, but the hair wasn't bushy. The woman in the mirror was beautiful. And someone that looked like Hermione's father had his hand on her shoulder. Hermione began to walk closer to look, but Pansy pulled her away.

"Come on, McGonagall's looking for an excuse to take away points to make up for the game yesterday. She's bound to be in a foul mood." Pansy said. Hermione shook her head. She must have just been imagining it. So she allowed herself to be lead away by Pansy to the Common Room, where she sat and talked with her friends (friends!) for hours, playing chess and laughing at Tracey's jokes.

 **I don't know what will be next chapter, but I'm hoping to get back to the main plot – this chapter kind of ran away with me. I have the Prologue of another Fanfiction ready. Should I post it now, or wait until I actually have some chapters prewritten? There was a lot of skipping around in this chapter. Sorry.**


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